On-demand positioning reference signal configuration

Abstract

Techniques for providing an on-demand positioning reference signal (PRS) to a user equipment (UE) are discussed herein. An example method for determining a location of a user equipment according to the present disclosure includes receiving first assistance data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration, transmitting a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration, receiving second assistance data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, the second positioning reference signal configuration based at least in part on the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration, obtaining measurements from one or more positioning reference signals based at least in part on the second assistance data, and determining a location based at least in part on the measurements obtained from the one or more positioning reference signals.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Cross - reference to Related Applications This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 186,226, filed May 10, 2021, entitled "ON - DEMAND POSITIONING REFERENCE SIGNAL CONFIGURATION", and claims the benefit of U.S. Application No. 17 / 684,158, filed Mar. 1, 2022, entitled "ON - DEMAND POSITIONING REFERENCE SIGNAL CONFIGURATION", each of which has been assigned to the assignee of this application and the entire contents of each are hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.

Background Art

[0002] Wireless communication systems have evolved through various generations, including the first - generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second - generation (2G) digital wireless telephone services (including interim 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third - generation (3G) high - speed data, Internet - enabled wireless services, fourth - generation (4G) services (e.g., Long - Term Evolution (LTE), or WiMax), and fifth - generation (5G) services (e.g., 5G New Radio (NR)). Currently, many different types of wireless communication systems are in use, including cellular systems and Personal Communication Service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the Cellular Analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), and GSM variants for mobile access of TDMA.

[0003] Knowing the location of a user device (UE), such as a mobile phone, is often desirable, and the terms “location” and “position” are synonymous and interchangeable in this specification. A Location Services (LCS) client may want to know the location of a UE and may communicate with a Location Center to request the location of the UE. The Location Center and the UE may exchange messages as necessary to obtain a location estimate for the UE. The Location Center may return the location estimate to the LCS client, for example, for use in one or more applications.

[0004] Obtaining the location of mobile devices accessing a wireless network can be useful for many applications, including emergency calls, personal navigation, asset tracking, and locating friends or family. Existing positioning methods include those based on measuring radio signals transmitted from various devices in a wireless network, including satellite vehicles and terrestrial radio sources, such as base stations and access points. Stations in a wireless network may be configured to transmit reference signals to enable mobile devices to perform positioning measurements. Improvements in positioning-related signaling can improve the efficiency of mobile devices. [Overview of the Initiative] [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] An exemplary method for determining the location of a user device according to this disclosure includes the steps of: receiving first support data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration; transmitting a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; receiving second support data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is at least partially based on the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; obtaining measurements from one or more positioning reference signals at least partially based on the second support data; and determining the location at least partially based on the measurements obtained from one or more positioning reference signals.

[0006] An implementation of such a method may include one or more of the following features: The first support data may include instructions for one or more positioning reference signal configuration parameters that can be modified on demand. The first support data may be received via one or more positioning system information blocks transmitted by a base station. A request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration may include a request to modify at least one of the positioning reference signal bandwidth, the duration of a positioning opportunity, and the frequency of a positioning opportunity. A request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration may include a positioning reference configuration identifier associated with one or more positioning reference signal parameters. A request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration may be included in a mobile-origin location request message. The second support data may be received from a location management function via a Long-Term Evolution Positioning Protocol message. The first support data may be associated with multiple positioning reference signal configurations, and sending a request to modify one or more parameters may include providing an identifier associated with one of the multiple positioning reference signal configurations. Receiving the second support data may include receiving an identifier associated with one of a plurality of positioning reference signal configurations.

[0007] An exemplary method for providing support data associated with an on-demand positioning reference signal according to this disclosure includes the steps of: sending first support data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration to a user device; receiving a request from the user device to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; generating second support data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is at least partially based on the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; and sending the second support data to the user device.

[0008] An implementation of such a method may include one or more of the following features: The first support data may include instructions for one or more positioning reference signal configuration parameters that can be modified on demand. Sending the first support data may include providing one or more positioning system information blocks to a base station. A request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration may include a request to modify at least one of the positioning reference signal bandwidth, positioning opportunity duration, and positioning opportunity frequency. A request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration may include a positioning reference configuration identifier associated with one or more positioning reference signal parameters. A request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration may be included in a mobile-origin location request message. The second support data may be included in a long-term evolution positioning protocol message. The first support data may be associated with multiple positioning reference signal configurations, and a request to modify one or more parameters may include an identifier associated with one of the multiple positioning reference signal configurations. The second support data may include an identifier associated with one of several positioning reference signal configurations.

[0009] An exemplary method for transmitting on-demand positioning reference signals according to the present disclosure includes the steps of: transmitting one or more positioning reference signals based on a first positioning reference signal configuration; receiving a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; and transmitting one or more positioning reference signals based on a second positioning reference signal configuration, the second positioning reference signal configuration being at least in part based on the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration.

[0010] An implementation of such a method may include one or more of the following features: A request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration may include a request to modify at least one of the positioning reference signal bandwidth, the duration of a positioning opportunity, and the frequency of a positioning opportunity. A request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration may include a start time and duration for transmitting one or more positioning reference signals based on the second positioning reference signal configuration. A request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration may include a positioning reference configuration identifier associated with one or more positioning reference signal parameters. The second positioning reference signal configuration may include a desired beam direction.

[0011] An exemplary apparatus as provided in this disclosure includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor receives first support data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration, transmits a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration, and receives second support data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, the second positioning reference signal configuration is configured to at least partially base on the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration, obtain measurements from one or more positioning reference signals at least partially based on the second support data, and determine a location at least partially based on the measurements obtained from one or more positioning reference signals.

[0012] An exemplary apparatus as provided by this disclosure includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to send first support data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration to a user device, receive a request from the user device to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration, and generate second support data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, the second positioning reference signal configuration being at least partially based on a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration, and sending the second support data to the user device.

[0013] An exemplary apparatus as described herein includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to transmit one or more positioning reference signals based on a first positioning reference signal configuration, to receive a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration, and to transmit one or more positioning reference signals based on a second positioning reference signal configuration, the second positioning reference signal configuration being at least partially based on a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0014] [Figure 1] This is a simplified diagram of an example of a wireless communication system. [Figure 2] Figure 1 is a block diagram of the components of an exemplary user device. [Figure 3] Figure 1 is a block diagram of the components of an example transmission / reception point. [Figure 4] Figure 1 is a block diagram of the components of an example server. [Figure 5A] This figure shows an example of a downlink positioning reference signal resource set. [Figure 5B] This figure shows an example of a downlink positioning reference signal resource set. [Figure 6] This is a diagram illustrating an exemplary subframe format for transmitting a positioning reference signal. [Figure 7] This is a conceptual diagram of an exemplary positioning frequency layer. [Figure 8] This is an example message flow diagram for an on-demand DL-PRS procedure. [Figure 9] This figure shows an example data structure for the required DL-PRS configuration information. [Figure 10] This figure shows an example data structure for DL-PRS configuration information associated with a DL-PRS configuration identifier. [Figure 11] It is an exemplary message flow diagram for the DL-PRS reconstruction procedure. [Figure 12] It is an exemplary message flow diagram for the on-demand DL-PRS request procedure from the user equipment. [Figure 13] It is an exemplary message flow diagram for the support data correction procedure. [Figure 14] It is an exemplary message flow diagram for the support data pre-configuration procedure. [Figure 15] It is a process flow for an exemplary method implemented in a user equipment for determining a location using an on-demand positioning reference signal. [Figure 16] It is a process flow of an exemplary method for providing support data associated with an on-demand positioning reference signal. [Figure 17] It is a process flow of an exemplary method for transmitting an on-demand positioning reference signal.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0015] Techniques for providing an on-demand positioning reference signal (PRS) to a user equipment (UE) are discussed herein. Previous implementations of downlink (DL) PRS transmissions are typically in an "always-on" configuration where the base station transmits the PRS regardless of the UE's requirements in the network. Such an "always-on" configuration may utilize scarce resources such as bandwidth, energy, etc. when UE positioning is not needed for a particular period of time or in a particular network area, and may also require unnecessary overhead. In a network that utilizes beamformed DL-PRS transmissions (e.g., 5G NR), DL-PRS transmissions in all beam sweeping directions may result in unnecessary transmissions of the DL-PRS. The "always-on" configuration may also utilize a static allocation of DL-PRS resources. Generally, a static allocation of DL-PRS resources does not allow for temporarily increasing the DL-PRS resources to achieve higher positioning accuracy and / or lower latency positioning requirements in an area or at a time. Similarly, a static allocation of DL-PRS resources does not allow for reducing the DL-PRS resources when the positioning requirements can be met with fewer DL-PRS resources.

[0016] The on-demand DL-PRS techniques described herein enable the network to dynamically change the DL-PRS resource allocation as needed (e.g., based on requirements for specific use cases or applications). In one example, the on-demand DL-PRS techniques may enable the network to dynamically change configuration parameters such as the periodicity of DL-PRS opportunities, the duration of DL-PRS opportunities, the bandwidth of the DL-PRS, and the spatial direction of the DL-PRS.

[0017] In operation, the network may not allow a UE to request specific DL-PRS parameters (e.g., bandwidth, periodicity, etc.), and may limit the possible DL-PRS configurations that a UE can request. For example, the network may define DL-PRS configurations suitable for high-precision positioning, another DL-PRS configuration for medium-precision positioning, and another DL-PRS configuration for low-precision positioning, or similar. A UE can then request a specific DL-PRS configuration suitable for the current situation. In some examples, the UE may be configured to include identifier fields or other information associated with predefined or preconfigured DL-PRS configurations, instead of individual parameters defining the DL-PRS configuration. However, such identifier fields may require prior knowledge of which particular DL-PRS configurations are available in the network and whether the UE is permitted to request such DL-PRS configurations from the network.

[0018] In one embodiment, the on-demand DL-PRS procedure provided herein may utilize a new support data information element (IE) (e.g., IE On-Demand-DL-PRS-Configurations) containing a set of possible DL-PRS configurations. Each DL-PRS configuration in the set may include several relevant DL-PRS parameters, such as bandwidth, duration, power, periodicity, muting, etc. In one example, each DL-PRS configuration in the set may be identified by a DL-PRS configuration identifier or a similar field. The On-Demand-DL-PRS-Configuration IE may be contained in a positioning system information block (posSIB), which may be included in a positioning system information (posSI) broadcast. The UE may be configured to receive new posSIBs and store the IE On-Demand-DL-PRS-Configuration information. The UE may be configured to acquire posSIBs in different radio resource control (RRC) states (i.e., RRC_IDLE, RRC_INACTIVE, RRC_CONNECTED) and thus recognize which particular DL-PRS configuration may be requested on demand.

[0019] In one example, when a UE requires a DL-PRS configuration to perform a positioning measurement (for example, when a location request comes from an internal UE client, such as an app), the UE may initiate a Mobile-Originated Location Request (MO-LR) procedure and send an assistance data request message to a network entity, such as a Location Management Function (LMF). The assistance data request message may include a DL-PRS configuration identifier associated with the desired DL-PRS configuration. The network entity may then configure one or more base stations (e.g., gNBs) with the requested DL-PRS configuration and provide the UE with the relevant DL-PRS assistance data for the new DL-PRS configuration as part of the MO-LR procedure. The UE may then be configured to perform a DL-PRS measurement, calculate the location, and provide the location to the internal client. The same procedure may be used for location requests from external clients and in UE-assisted mode (for example, when the UE needs to acquire DL-PRS measurements but there are insufficient DL-PRS currently available), in which the UE requests a specific DL-PRS from a set of acceptable and (via broadcast) pre-configured on-demand DL-PRS configurations. These techniques and configurations are examples, and other techniques and configurations may be used.

[0020] Obtaining the location of mobile devices accessing a wireless network can be useful for many applications, including, for example, emergency calls, personal navigation, consumer asset tracking, and locating friends or family. Existing positioning methods include those based on measuring radio signals transmitted from various devices or entities in a wireless network, including satellite vehicles (SVs) and terrestrial radio sources, such as base stations and access points. Standardization for 5G wireless networks is expected to include support for various positioning methods, which may use reference signals transmitted by base stations, similar to how LTE wireless networks currently use positioning reference signals (PRS) and / or cell-specific reference signals (CRS) for location determination.

[0021] The description refers, for example, to a series of actions to be performed by elements of a computing device. Various actions described herein may be performed by a particular circuit (e.g., an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) by the execution of program instructions by one or more processors, or a combination of both. A sequence of actions described herein may be embodied at runtime in a non-temporary computer-readable medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions that cause the relevant processors to perform the functions described herein. Thus, various embodiments described herein can be embodied in several different forms, all of which are within the scope of this disclosure, including the claimed subject matter.

[0022] As used herein, the terms “User Equipment” (UE) and “Base Station” are not specific to any particular Radio Access Technology (RAT), and are not otherwise limited to such RAT, unless otherwise noted. Generally, such UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, consumer asset tracking device, Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. A UE may be mobile or (e.g., stationary for some time) and may communicate with a Radio Access Network (RAN). As used herein, the term “UE” may be interchangeable with “Access Terminal” or “AT,” “Client Device,” “Wireless Device,” “Subscriber Device,” “Subscriber Terminal,” “Subscriber Station,” “User Terminal” or “UT,” “Mobile Terminal,” “Mobile Station,” “Mobile Device,” or variations thereof. Generally, a UE may communicate with the core network over the RAN, and through the core network, a UE may be connected to external networks such as the Internet and to other UEs. Naturally, the UE can have other mechanisms to connect to the core network and / or the internet, such as via a wired access network or a Wi-Fi network (for example, based on IEEE 802.11).

[0023] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs that communicate with the UE, depending on the network in which it is deployed. Examples of base stations include access points (APs), network nodes, node Bs, advanced node Bs (eNBs), or general node Bs (g-node Bs, gNBs). Furthermore, in some systems, base stations may provide purely edge node signaling functionality, while in others they may provide additional control and / or network management functionality.

[0024] A UE can be embodied by any of several types of devices, including, but not limited to, printed circuit (PC) cards, CompactFlash® devices, external or internal modems, wireless or wired telephones, smartphones, tablets, consumer asset tracking devices, and asset tags. The communication links on which a UE can send signals to the RAN are called uplink channels (e.g., reverse traffic channels, reverse control channels, access channels, etc.). The communication links on which the RAN can send signals to the UE are called downlink channels or forward link channels (e.g., paging channels, control channels, broadcast channels, forward traffic channels, etc.). As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) may refer to either an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0025] As used herein, the terms “cell” or “sector” may, depending on the context, refer to one of several cells of a base station or the base station itself. The term “cell” may refer to a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (for example, via a carrier) and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier (VCID)) to distinguish adjacent cells operating via the same or different carriers. In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine-type communications (MTC), narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access for different types of devices. In some examples, the term “cell” may refer to a portion of the geographical coverage area (e.g., a sector) on which a logical entity operates.

[0026] Referring to Figure 1, an example of communication system 100 includes UE105, UE106, a radio access network (RAN), here a fifth-generation (5G) next-generation (NG) RAN (NG-RAN) 135, a 5G core network (5GC) 140, and a server 150. UE105 and / or UE106 may be, for example, IoT devices, location tracking devices, cellular phones, vehicles (e.g., cars, trucks, buses, boats, etc.), or other devices. The 5G network may also be called a new radio (NR) network, NG-RAN 135 may be called a 5G RAN or NR RAN, and 5GC 140 may be called an NG core network (NGC). Standardization of NG-RAN and 5GC is underway in the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®). Therefore, NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140 may comply with current or future standards for 5G support from 3GPP®. NG-RAN135 may be another type of RAN, such as a 3G RAN or a 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) RAN. UE106 may be configured to send and / or receive signals to and from other similar entities in System 100 and may be coupled to UE105, although such signaling is not shown in Figure 1 for the sake of simplicity. Similarly, this discussion focuses on UE105 for the sake of brevity. The communication system 100 can use information from the constellation 185 of satellite vehicles (SV) 190, 191, 192, 193 for any other local or regional satellite positioning system (SPS) such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), Galileo, Beidou, or the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), or the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) (for example, a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)). Additional components of the communication system 100 are described below. The communication system 100 may include additional or alternative components.

[0027] As shown in Figure 1, NG-RAN135 includes NR node B (gNB) 110a, 110b, and next-generation e node B (ng-eNB) 114, and 5GC140 includes access and mobility management function (AMF) 115, session management function (SMF) 117, location management function (LMF) 120, and gateway mobile location center (GMLC) 125. gNB110a, 110b, and ng-eNB114 are communicatively coupled to each other and configured to communicate wirelessly bidirectionally with UE105, and each is communicatively coupled to AMF115 and configured to communicate bidirectionally with it. gNB110a, 110b, and ng-eNB114 may be referred to as base stations (BS). AMF115, SMF117, LMF120, and GMLC125 are communicatively coupled to each other, and GMLC is communicatively coupled to an external client 130. SMF117 may act as the initial contact point for a Service Control Function (SCF) (not shown) to create, control, and erase media sessions. Base stations such as gNB110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB114 may be macrocells (e.g., high-power cellular base stations), small cells (e.g., low-power cellular base stations), or access points (e.g., short-range base stations configured to communicate using short-range technologies such as WiFi, WiFi-Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth®, Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE), and Zigbee). One or more BSs, e.g., gNB110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB114, may be configured to communicate with UE105 via multiple carriers. Each of gNB110a, 110b, and ng-eNB114 may provide communication coverage to its respective geographical area, e.g., cell. Each cell may be divided into multiple sectors depending on the base station antenna.

[0028] Figure 1 provides a generalized diagram of various components, any or all of which may be used as needed, each of which may be duplicated or omitted as needed. Specifically, one UE 105 is illustrated, but many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may be used in the communication system 100. Similarly, the communication system 100 may include a larger (or smaller) number of SVs (i.e., more or fewer than the four SVs 190-193 illustrated), gNB 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, AMF 115, external client 130, and / or other components. The illustrated connections that connect the various components in the communication system 100 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediary) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. Furthermore, components may be rearranged, combined, separated, substituted, and / or omitted depending on the desired functionality.

[0029] Figure 1 shows a 5G-based network, but similar network implementations and configurations may be used for other communication technologies such as 3G and Long-Term Evolution (LTE). The implementations described herein (whether for 5G technology and / or for one or more other communication technologies and / or protocols) may be used to transmit (or broadcast) a directional synchronization signal, receive and measure the directional signal at a UE (e.g., UE105), and / or provide location assistance to UE105 (via GMLC125 or other location servers), and / or calculate the location of UE105 at a locatable device such as UE105, gNB110a, 110b, or LMF120 based on the measurements received at UE105 for such directionally transmitted signals. The Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 125, Location Management Function (LMF) 120, Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 115, SMF 117, ng-eNB (e-node B) 114, and gNB (g-node B) 110a, 110b are examples and may be replaced by or include, in various embodiments, other various location server and / or base station functionalities, respectively.

[0030] System 100 is wirelessly communicative in that its components can communicate with each other directly or indirectly (at least sometimes using wireless connections) via, for example, gNB110a, 110b, ng-eNB114 and / or 5GC140 (and / or one or more other devices not shown, such as one or more other transceiver base stations). For indirect communication, the communication may be modified during transmission from one entity to another, for example, by changing the format, such as by changing the header information of the data packet. UE105 may include multiple UEs and may be a mobile wireless communication device, which can communicate wirelessly and via wired connections. UE105 may be any of various devices, such as a smartphone, tablet computer, or vehicle-based device, but these are examples, and UE105 is not required to be one of these configurations, and other configurations of UEs may be used. Other UEs may include wearable devices (e.g., smartwatches, smart jewelry, smart glasses, or headsets). Other UEs may be used, whether they currently exist or will be developed in the future. Furthermore, other wireless devices (whether mobile or not) may be implemented within System 100 and may communicate with each other, as well as with UE 105, gNB 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, 5GC 140, and / or external client 130. For example, such other devices may include Internet of Things (IoT) devices, medical devices, home entertainment and / or automation devices. 5GC 140 may communicate with external client 130 (e.g., a computer system) so that, for example, external client 130 can request and / or receive location information about UE 105 (e.g., via GMLC 125).

[0031] UE105 or other devices may be configured to communicate in various networks and / or for various purposes and / or using various technologies (e.g., 5G, Wi-Fi communication, multiple frequencies of Wi-Fi communication, satellite positioning, one or more types of communication (e.g., GSM (Mobile Global System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), LTE (Long-Term Evolution), V2X (vehicle-to-vehicle, e.g., V2P (vehicle-to-pedestrian), V2I (vehicle-to-vehicle), V2V (vehicle-to-vehicle)), IEEE802.11p, etc.). V2X communication may be cellular (cellular V2X (C-V2X)) and / or WiFi (e.g., DSRC (Dedicated Short-Range Connection)). System 100 supports operation on multiple carriers (waveform signals of different frequencies). A multi-carrier transmitter can transmit a modulated signal simultaneously on multiple carriers. Each modulated signal may be a code division multiple access (CDMA) signal, a time division multiple access (TDMA) signal, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) signal, a single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) signal, etc. Each modulated signal may be transmitted on a different carrier and may carry pilot signals, overhead information, data, etc. UEs 105 and 106 can communicate with each other through inter-UE sidelink (SL) communication by transmitting over one or more sidelink channels, such as a physical sidelink synchronization channel (PSSCH), a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), or a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH).

[0032] UE105 may include and / or be referred to as a device, mobile device, wireless device, mobile terminal, terminal, mobile station (MS), Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) enabled terminal (SET), or any other name. Furthermore, UE105 may be associated with cell phones, smartphones, laptops, tablets, PDAs, consumer asset tracking devices, navigation devices, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, health monitors, security systems, smart city sensors, smart meters, wearable trackers, or any other portable or mobile devices. Typically, but not always, the UE105 may support wireless communications using one or more radio access technologies (RATs), such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA®), LTE, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), IEEE 802.11 WiFi (also known as Wi-Fi), Bluetooth® (BT), Global Interoperability Microwave Access (WiMAX), and 5G New Radio (NR) (e.g., using NG-RAN135 and 5GC140). The UE105 may also support wireless communications using, for example, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) that can connect to other networks (e.g., the Internet) using Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or packet cable. The use of one or more of these RATs allows UE105 to communicate with an external client 130 (for example, via an element of 5GC140, not shown in Figure 1, or possibly via GMLC125), and / or the external client 130 may be able to receive location information about UE105 (for example, via GMLC125).

[0033] UE105 may include a single entity or multiple entities in a personal area network where, for example, a user may have access to audio, video and / or data I / O (input / output) devices and / or body sensors, and a separate wireline or wireless modem. The estimated location of UE105 may be called location, location estimate, location fix, fix, position, location estimate, or location fix, and may be geographical, and therefore may or may not include an elevation component (e.g., elevation, ground, floor, or height or depth from underground), and provide location coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude) for UE105. Alternatively, the location of UE105 may be represented as an urban location (e.g., as the address or designation of a point or narrow area somewhere in a building, such as a particular room or floor). The location of UE105 may be represented as an area or volume (defined either geographically or in the shape of a city) in which UE105 is expected to be located with some degree of probability or confidence level (e.g., 67%, 95%, etc.). The location of UE105 may be represented, for example, as a relative location including distance and direction from a known location. A relative location may be represented as relative coordinates (e.g., X, Y (and Z) coordinates) defined relative to some origin in a known location, which may be defined, for example, geographically, in urban terms, or by reference to a point, area, or volume shown in a map, blueprint, or architectural plan. In the descriptions contained herein, the use of the term location may include any of these variations unless otherwise indicated. When calculating the location of a UE, it is common to obtain values ​​for local x, y, and possibly z coordinates, and then, if desired, convert the local coordinates to absolute coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and altitude above or below mean sea level).

[0034] UE105 may be configured to communicate with other entities using one or more of various technologies. UE105 may be configured to indirectly connect to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links. D2D P2P links may support any suitable D2D radio access technology (RAT), such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), or Bluetooth®. One or more of a group of UEs using D2D communication may be within the geographical coverage area of ​​a transmit / receive point (TRP), such as one or more of gNB110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB114. Other UEs within such a group may be outside such geographical coverage area or otherwise unable to receive transmissions from the base station. A group of UEs communicating via D2D communication may use a one-to-many (1:M) system, where each UE can transmit to other UEs within the group. A TRP can facilitate the scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication can be practiced between UEs without the involvement of a TRP. One or more of the groups of UEs using D2D communication may be within the geographical coverage area of ​​a TRP. Other UEs within such a group may be outside such geographical coverage area or otherwise unable to receive transmissions from the base station. A group of UEs communicating via D2D communication may use a one-to-many (1:M) system in which each UE can transmit to other UEs within the group. A TRP can facilitate the scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication can be practiced between UEs without the involvement of a TRP.

[0035] The base station (BS) in NG-RAN135 shown in Figure 1 includes NR node B, called gNB110a and 110b. The pair of gNB110a and 110b in NG-RAN135 may be interconnected via one or more other gNBs. Access to the 5G network is given to UE105 via wireless communication between UE105 and one or more of the gNB110a and 110b, and these gNBs may provide wireless communication with access to 5GC140 on behalf of UE105 using 5G. In Figure 1, it is assumed that the serving gNB for UE105 is gNB110a, but another gNB (e.g., gNB110b) may act as a serving gNB if UE105 moves to a different location, or as a secondary gNB to provide additional throughput and bandwidth to UE105.

[0036] The base station (BS) in NG-RAN135 shown in Figure 1 may include ng-eNB114, also known as next-generation advanced node B. ng-eNB114 may connect to one or more of the gNB110a, 110b in NG-RAN135, possibly via one or more other gNBs and / or one or more other ng-eNBs. ng-eNB114 may provide LTE wireless access and / or evolved LTE (eLTE) wireless access to UE105. One or more of the gNB110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB114 may transmit signals to help determine the location of UE105, but may be configured to function as a positioning-only beacon that does not need to receive signals from UE105 or other UEs.

[0037] Each of the gNB110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB114 may have one or more TRPs. For example, each sector in a BS cell may have a TRP, but multiple TRPs may share one or more components (e.g., sharing a processor but having separate antennas). System 100 may exclusively include macro TRPs, or system 100 may have different types of TRPs, such as macro, pico, and / or femto TRPs. Macro TRPs may cover relatively large geographical areas (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may enable unrestricted access by terminals subscribing to the service. Pico TRPs may cover relatively small geographical areas (e.g., picocells) and may enable unrestricted access by terminals subscribing to the service. Femto or home TRPs may cover relatively small geographical areas (e.g., femtocells) and may enable limited access by terminals associated with femtocells (e.g., user terminals in a home).

[0038] Each of the gNB110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB114 may include a radio unit (RU), a distributed unit (DU), and a central unit (CU). For example, the gNB110a includes RU111, DU112, and CU113. RU111, DU112, and CU113 divide the functionality of the gNB110a. While the gNB110a is shown with a single RU, a single DU, and a single CU, a gNB may include one or more RUs, one or more DUs, and / or one or more CUs. The interface between CU113 and DU112 is called the F1 interface. RU111 is configured to perform digital front-end (DFE) functions (e.g., analog-to-digital conversion, filtering, power amplification, transmit / receive) and digital beamforming, and includes part of the physical (PHY) layer. The RU111 can implement DFE using Large-Scale Multiple Input / Multi-Output (MIMO) and may be integrated with one or more antennas of the gNB110a. The DU112 hosts the radio link control (RLC), media access control (MAC), and physical layer of the gNB110a. One DU can support one or more cells, each cell being supported by a single DU. The operation of the DU112 is controlled by the CU113. The CU113 is configured to perform functions for transferring user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, etc., although some functions are exclusively allocated to the DU112. The CU113 hosts the radio resource control (RRC), service data conformance protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) of the gNB110a. UE105 can communicate with CU113 via the RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, with DU112 via the RLC, MAC, and PHY layers, and with RU111 via the PHY layer.

[0039] As mentioned above, Figure 1 shows a node configured to communicate according to the 5G communication protocol, but nodes configured to communicate according to other communication protocols, such as the LTE protocol or the IEEE 802.11x protocol, may be used. For example, in an Advanced Packet System (EPS) providing LTE wireless access to UE105, the RAN may include an Advanced Universal Mobile Communications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) which may include base stations including Advanced Node B (eNB). The core network for the EPS may include an Advanced Packet Core (EPC). The EPS may include E-UTRAN plus EPC, where in Figure 1, E-UTRAN corresponds to NG-RAN135 and EPC corresponds to 5GC140.

[0040] The gNB110a, 110b, and ng-eNB114 can communicate with the AMF115, which in turn communicates with the LMF120 for positioning functionality. The AMF115 can support the mobility of the UE105, including cell changes and handovers, and may be involved in supporting signaling connections to the UE105 and, potentially, data and voice bearers for the UE105. The LMF120 can communicate directly with the UE105, for example, via wireless communication, or directly with the gNB110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB114. The LMF120 can support the positioning of UE105 when UE105 accesses NG-RAN135, and can support positioning procedures / methods such as assisted GNSS (A-GNSS), observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) (e.g., downlink (DL)OTDOA or uplink (UL)OTDOA), round-trip time (RTT), multi-cell RTT, real-time kinematic (RTK), precise single positioning (PPP), differential GNSS (DGNSS), extended cell ID (E-CID), angle of arrival (AoA), angle of departure (AoD), and / or other positioning methods. The LMF120 can process location service requests for UE105 received, for example, from AMF115 or GMLC125. The LMF120 may be connected to AMF115 and / or GMLC125. The LMF120 may be referred to by other names, such as Location Manager (LM), Location Function (LF), Commercial LMF (CLMF), or Value-Added LMF (VLMF). Nodes / systems implementing the LMF120 may implement other types of location support modules as additions or replacements, such as Extended Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC) or Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (SLP).At least part of the positioning functionality (including the derivation of the UE105's location) may be performed in the UE105 (for example, using signal measurements acquired by the UE105 for signals transmitted by wireless nodes via gNB110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB114, and / or supporting data provided to the UE105 by, for example, LMF120). The AMF115 can act as a control node handling signaling between the UE105 and the 5GC140, and may provide QoS (Quality of Service) flow and session management. The AMF115 can support the mobility of the UE105, including cell changes and handovers, and may be involved in supporting signaling connections to the UE105.

[0041] Server 150, for example, a cloud server, is configured to obtain a location estimate for UE105 and provide it to an external client 130. Server 150 may be configured to run a microservice / service that obtains a location estimate for UE105. Server 150 may pull location estimates from UE105, one or more of gNB110a, 110b (for example, via RU111, DU112, and CU113) and / or ng-eNB114 and / or LMF120 (for example, by sending location requests to them). As another example, one or more of UE105, gNB110a, 110b (for example, via RU111, DU112, and CU113) and / or LMF120 may push a location estimate for UE105 to Server 150.

[0042] GMLC125 may support location requests for UE105 received from external client 130 via server 150, and may forward such location requests to AMF115 for forwarding to LMF120 by AMF115, or may forward location requests directly to LMF120. Location responses from LMF120 (including, for example, location estimates for UE105) may be returned to GMLC125 either directly or via AMF115, and GMLC125 may then return the location response (including, for example, location estimates) to external client 130 via server 150. Although GMLC125 is shown connected to both AMF115 and LMF120, in some implementations it may not be connected to AMF115 or LMF120.

[0043] As further shown in Figure 1, the LMF120 can communicate with gNB110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB114 using a new radio positioning protocol A (which may be called NPPa or NRPPa) as defined in 3GPP® Technical Specification (TS) 38.455. NRPPa may be the same as, similar to, or an extension thereof of LTE Positioning Protocol A (LPPa) as defined in 3GPP® TS36.455, and NRPPa messages are transmitted via the AMF115 between gNB110a (or gNB110b) and the LMF120, and / or between ng-eNB114 and the LMF120. As further shown in Figure 1, the LMF120 and UE105 can communicate using the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) as defined in 3GPP® TS36.355. The LMF120 and UE105 can further, or instead, communicate using a new radio positioning protocol (which may be called NPP or NRPP) which may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of LPP. Here, LPP and / or NPP messages may be forwarded to the UE105, between the UE105 and the LMF120 via the AMF115 and serving gNB110a, 110b, or serving ng-eNB114. For example, LPP and / or NPP messages may be forwarded between the LMF120 and the AMF115 using the 5G Location Services Application Protocol (LCS AP), and between the AMF115 and the UE105 using the 5G Non-Access Layer (NAS) protocol. The LPP and / or NPP protocols may be used to support positioning of the UE105 using UE-assisted and / or UE-based positioning methods such as A-GNSS, RTK, OTDOA, and / or E-CID.The NRPPa protocol may be used to support the positioning of the UE105 using network-based positioning methods such as E-CID (for example, when used with measurements obtained by gNB110a, 110b, or ng-eNB114), and / or the LMF120 may be used to obtain location-related information from gNB110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB114, such as parameters defining directional SS or PRS transmissions from gNB110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB114. The LMF120 may be collateralized with or integrated with the gNB or TRP, or may be located separately from the gNB and / or TRP, and may be configured to communicate directly or indirectly with the gNB and / or TRP.

[0044] Using a UE-assisted positioning method, UE105 can acquire location measurements and send these measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF120) for the calculation of a location estimate for UE105. For example, location measurements may include one or more of the following for gNB110a, 110b, ng-eNB114, and / or WLAN APs: Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), Round-Trip Time (RTT), Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD), UE Receive-Transmit Time Difference (Rx-Tx Time Difference), Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), and / or Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ). Location measurements may also include, or instead, GNSS pseudorange, code phase, and / or carrier phase measurements for SV190-193.

[0045] Using a UE-based positioning method, UE105 can acquire location measurements (which may be the same as or similar to location measurements for a UE-assisted positioning method, for example) and calculate its location (for example, with the help of support data received from a location server such as LMF120, or broadcast by gNB110a, 110b, ng-eNB114, or other base stations or APs).

[0046] Using a network-based location method, one or more base stations (e.g., gNB110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB114) or APs can acquire and / or receive location measurements (e.g., RSSI, RTT, Rx-Tx time difference, RSRP, RSRQ, or time to arrival (ToA) measurements for signals transmitted by UE105). One or more base stations or APs can then send the measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF120) for the calculation of a location estimate for UE105.

[0047] Using NRPPa, the information provided to the LMF120 by gNB110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB114 may include timing and configuration information for directional SS or PRS transmissions, as well as location coordinates. The LMF120 may provide some or all of this information to the UE105 as supporting data in LPP and / or NPP messages via NG-RAN135 and 5GC140.

[0048] An LPP or NPP message sent from the LMF120 to the UE105 can instruct the UE105 to do one of a variety of things, depending on the desired functionality. For example, an LPP or NPP message may include an instruction for the UE105 to acquire measurements for GNSS (or A-GNSS), WLAN, E-CID, and / or OTDOA (or some other positioning method). In the case of E-CID, an LPP or NPP message may instruct the UE105 to acquire one or more measurements (e.g., beam ID, beamwidth, mean angle, RSRP, RSRQ measurements) of a directional signal transmitted within a particular cell supported by one or more of the gNB110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB114 (or supported by some other type of base station, such as an eNB or WiFi AP). UE105 may send the measured quantity back to LMF120 via serving gNB110a (or serving ng-eNB114) and AMF115 in an LPP or NPP message (for example, in a 5G NAS message).

[0049] As stated, although the communication system 100 is described in relation to 5G technology, the communication system 100 may be implemented to support other communication technologies such as GSM, WCDMA®, LTE, etc., used to support and interact with mobile devices such as UE105 (for example, to implement voice, data, positioning, and other functionalities). In some such embodiments, 5GC140 may be configured to control different air interfaces. For example, 5GC140 may be connected to a WLAN using a non-3GPP® inter-network connectivity function in 5GC140 (N3IWF, not shown in Figure 1). For example, the WLAN may support IEEE802.11 WiFi access for UE105 and may have one or more WiFi APs. Here, N3IWF may connect to the WLAN and other elements in 5GC140, such as AMF115. In some embodiments, both NG-RAN135 and 5GC140 may be replaced by one or more other RANs and one or more other core networks. For example, in an EPS, NG-RAN135 may be replaced with an E-UTRAN including an eNB, and 5GC140 may be replaced with an EPC including a Mobility Management Entity (MME) instead of AMF115, an E-SMLC instead of LMF120, and a GMLC which may be similar to GMLC125. In such an EPS, the E-SMLC may use LPPa instead of NRPPa to send and receive location information to and from the eNB in ​​the E-UTRAN, and LPP may be used to support the positioning of UE105. In these other embodiments, the positioning of UE105 using a directional PRS may be supported in a manner similar to that described herein for 5G networks, the difference being that the functions and procedures described herein for gNB110a, 110b, ng-eNB114, AMF115, and LMF120 may, in some cases, apply instead to other network elements such as eNBs, WiFi APs, MMEs, and E-SMLCs.

[0050] As described above, in some embodiments, positioning functionality can be implemented, at least in part, using directional SS or PRS beams transmitted by base stations (such as gNB110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB114) within range of the UE whose location is to be determined (e.g., UE105 in Figure 1). In some cases, the UE can use directional SS or PRS beams from multiple base stations (such as gNB110a, 110b, ng-eNB114, etc.) to calculate its position.

[0051] See also Figure 2, the UE200 is one example of the UE105 and 106 and comprises a computing platform including a processor 210, a memory 211 containing software (SW) 212, one or more sensors 213, a transceiver interface 214 for transceivers 215 (including a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250), a user interface 216, a satellite positioning system (SPS) receiver 217, a camera 218, and a position device (PD) 219. The processor 210, memory 211, sensors 213, transceiver interface 214, user interface 216, SPS receiver 217, camera 218, and position device 219 may be communicatively coupled to one another by a bus 220 (which may be configured for optical and / or telecommunications, for example). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., one or more of the camera 218, positioning device 219, and / or sensors 213, etc.) may be omitted from the UE200. The processor 210 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 210 may include multiple processors, including a general-purpose / application processor 230, a digital signal processor (DSP) 231, a modem processor 232, a video processor 233, and / or a sensor processor 234. One or more of the processors 230-234 may include multiple devices (e.g., multiple processors). For example, the sensor processor 234 may include a processor for, for example, RF (radio frequency) sensing (one or more (cellular) wireless signals are transmitted and reflected, used to identify, map, and / or track objects), and / or ultrasound, etc. The modem processor 232 can support dual SIM / dual connectivity (or even more SIMs).For example, a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module or Subscriber Identification Module) may be used by an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), and another SIM may be used by the end user of the UE200 for connectivity. Memory 211 is a non-temporary storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, disk memory, and / or read-only memory (ROM). Memory 211 may store software 212, which may be processor-readable processor-executable software code containing instructions configured to cause the processor 210 to perform various functions described herein when executed. Alternatively, software 212 may not be directly executable by the processor 210, but may be configured to cause the processor 210 to perform functions when compiled and executed, for example. This description may refer to the processor 210 performing functions, but also includes other implementations, such as the processor 210 executing software and / or firmware. This description may refer to processor 210 performing a function as a simplification to the fact that one or more of processors 230-234 perform the function. This description may refer to UE200 performing a function as a simplification to the fact that one or more of the appropriate components of UE200 perform the function. Processor 210 may include, and / or alternatively, memory with stored instructions in addition to memory 211. The functionality of processor 210 will be discussed in more detail below.

[0052] The configuration of the UE200 shown in Figure 2 is an example of the present disclosure as defined in the claims, and is not limiting; other configurations may be used. For example, an exemplary configuration of the UE includes one or more processors 230-234 of the processor 210, memory 211, and a wireless transceiver 240. Other exemplary configurations include one or more processors 230-234 of the processor 210, memory 211, a wireless transceiver, one or more sensors 213, a user interface 216, an SPS receiver 217, a camera 218, a PD 219, and / or a wired transceiver.

[0053] The UE200 may include a modem processor 232 capable of performing baseband processing on signals received and downconverted by the transceiver 215 and / or SPS receiver 217. The modem processor 232 can perform baseband processing on signals so that they are upconverted for transmission by the transceiver 215. Alternatively, baseband processing may be performed by a general-purpose / application processor 230 and / or DSP 231. However, other configurations may be used to perform baseband processing.

[0054] The UE200 may include sensor 213, which may include one or more of various types of sensors, such as one or more inertial sensors, one or more magnetometers, one or more environmental sensors, one or more optical sensors, one or more weight sensors, and / or one or more radio frequency (RF) sensors. The inertial measurement unit (IMU) may include, for example, one or more accelerometers (e.g., collectively responding to the acceleration of the UE200 in three dimensions) and / or one or more gyroscopes (e.g., 3D gyroscopes). Sensor 213 may include one or more magnetometers (e.g., 3D magnetometers) for determining orientation (e.g., relative to magnetic north and / or true north), which can be used for any of a variety of purposes, such as supporting one or more compass applications. Environmental sensors may include, for example, one or more temperature sensors, one or more barometric pressure sensors, one or more ambient light sensors, one or more camera imaging devices, and / or one or more microphones. Sensor 213 can generate analog and / or digital signal indications that are stored in memory 211 and can be processed by DSP 231 and / or general-purpose / application processor 230, for example, to support one or more applications, such as applications targeting positioning and / or navigation operations.

[0055] Sensor 213 can be used for relative location measurement, relative location determination, motion determination, etc. Information detected by sensor 213 can be used for motion detection, relative displacement, dead reckoning, sensor-based location determination, and / or sensor-assisted location determination. Sensor 213 may be useful in determining whether UE200 is stationary or mobile, and / or whether specific useful information regarding UE200's mobility should be reported to LMF120. For example, based on information acquired / measured by sensor 213, UE200 may notify / report to LMF120 that UE200 has detected movement or has moved, and report relative displacement / distance (e.g., by dead reckoning, sensor-based location determination, or sensor-assisted location determination enabled by sensor 213). In another example, for relative positioning information, the sensor / IMU may be used to determine the angle and / or orientation of other devices relative to UE200, etc.

[0056] The IMU may be configured to provide measurements of the direction and / or speed of motion of the UE200, which may be used in relative location determination. For example, one or more accelerometers and / or one or more gyroscopes of the IMU may detect the linear acceleration and speed of rotation of the UE200, respectively. The linear acceleration and rotational speed measurements of the UE200 may be combined over time to determine the instantaneous direction and displacement of motion of the UE200. The instantaneous direction and displacement of motion may be combined to track the location of the UE200. For example, the reference location of the UE200 may be determined for a given moment, for example, using the SPS receiver 217 (and / or by some other means), and measurements from the accelerometers and gyroscopes taken after this moment may be used in dead reckoning to determine the current location of the UE200 based on the motion (direction and distance) of the UE200 relative to the reference location.

[0057] The magnetometer can determine the magnetic field strength in different directions, which can be used to determine the orientation of the UE200. For example, the orientation can be used to provide the UE200 with a digital compass. The magnetometer may include a two-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and indicate the magnetic field strength in two orthogonal dimensions. The magnetometer may include a three-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and indicate the magnetic field strength in three orthogonal dimensions. The magnetometer may provide means for detecting the magnetic field and providing an indication of the magnetic field to, for example, a processor 210.

[0058] The transceiver 215 may include a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250, respectively, configured to communicate with other devices via wireless and wired connections. For example, the wireless transceiver 240 may include a wireless transmitter 242 and a wireless receiver 244 coupled to an antenna 246 to transmit (e.g., over one or more uplink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) and / or receive (e.g., over one or more downlink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) a wireless signal 248, and to convert the signal from the wireless signal 248 to a wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signal, and from the wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signal to the wireless signal 248. The wireless transmitter 242 includes appropriate components (e.g., a power amplifier and a digital-to-analog converter). The wireless receiver 244 includes appropriate components (e.g., one or more amplifiers, one or more frequency filters, and an analog-to-digital converter). The wireless transmitter 242 may include multiple transmitters, which may be individual components or composite / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 244 may include multiple receivers, which may be individual components or composite / integrated components. The wireless receiver 240 may be configured to communicate signals (for example, with the TRP and / or one or more other devices) in accordance with various radio access technologies (RATs) such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Mobile Global System), UMTS (Universal Mobile Communication System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA® (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP® LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth®, Zigbee, etc.The NR system may be configured to operate on different frequency layers, such as FR1 (e.g., 410–7125 MHz) and FR2 (e.g., 24.25–52.6 GHz), and may extend into newer bands such as sub-6 GHz and / or above 100 GHz (e.g., FR2x, FR3, FR4). The wired transceiver 250 may include a network interface that can be used to communicate with a wired transmitter 252 and a wired receiver 254, such as an NG-RAN135, configured for wired communication, to send communications to and receive communications from there. The wired transmitter 252 may include multiple transmitters, which may be individual components or composite / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 254 may include multiple receivers, which may be individual components or composite / integrated components. The wired transceiver 250 may be configured, for example, for optical communication and / or telecommunications. The transceiver 215 may be communicatively coupled to the transceiver interface 214, for example, by optical and / or electrical connections. The transceiver interface 214 may be integrated with the transceiver 215, at least in part. The wireless transmitter 242, wireless receiver 244, and / or antenna 246 may include multiple transmitters, multiple receivers, and / or multiple antennas, respectively, for sending and / or receiving appropriate signals.

[0059] The user interface 216 may include one or more of several devices, such as speakers, microphones, display devices, vibration devices, keyboards, and touchscreens. The user interface 216 may include several of any of these devices. The user interface 216 may be configured to allow the user to interact with one or more applications housed by the UE 200. For example, the user interface 216 may store analog and / or digital signal instructions in memory 211 so that they are processed by the DSP 231 and / or general-purpose / application processor 230 in response to user actions. Similarly, an application housed on the UE 200 may store analog and / or digital signal instructions in memory 211 to present output signals to the user. The user interface 216 may include audio input / output (I / O) devices, such as speakers, microphones, digital-analog circuit configurations, analog-digital circuit configurations, amplifiers, and / or gain control circuit configurations (including several of any of these devices). Other configurations of audio I / O devices may be used. Alternatively, the user interface 216 may include, for example, one or more touch sensors that respond to touch and / or pressure on the keyboard and / or touchscreen of the user interface 216.

[0060] An SPS receiver 217 (for example, a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver) may be capable of receiving and acquiring an SPS signal 260 via an SPS antenna 262. The SPS antenna 262 may be configured to convert the SPS signal 260 from a wireless signal to a wired signal, such as an electrical or optical signal, and may be integrated with antenna 246. The SPS receiver 217 may be configured to process the acquired SPS signal 260 whole or partially in order to estimate the location of the UE 200. For example, the SPS receiver 217 may be configured to use the SPS signal 260 to determine the location of the UE 200 by trilateration. A general-purpose / application processor 230, memory 211, DSP 231, and / or one or more specialized processors (not shown) may be used together with the SPS receiver 217 to process the acquired SPS signal whole or partially and / or to calculate the estimated location of the UE 200. Memory 211 can store indications (e.g., measurements) of the SPS signal 260 and / or other signals (e.g., signals obtained from the wireless transceiver 240) for use when performing positioning operations. The general-purpose / application processor 230, DSP 231, and / or one or more specialized processors, and / or memory 211 may provide or support a location engine for use when processing measurements to estimate the location of the UE200.

[0061] The UE200 may include a camera 218 for capturing still images or video. The camera 218 may include, for example, an image sensor (e.g., a charge-coupled element or a CMOS imager), a lens, an analog-digital circuit configuration, a frame buffer, and the like. Additional processing, adjustment, encoding, and / or compression of the signal representing the captured image may be performed by the general-purpose / application processor 230 and / or DSP 231. Similarly or alternatively, the video processor 233 may perform adjustment, encoding, compression, and / or manipulation of the signal representing the captured image. The video processor 233 can decode / decompress the stored image data for display, for example, on a display device (not shown) of the user interface 216.

[0062] The position device (PD) 219 may be configured to determine the position of the UE 200, the movement of the UE 200, and / or the relative position of the UE 200, and / or the time. For example, the PD 219 may communicate with and / or include part or all of the SPS receiver 217. The PD 219 may, as necessary, work with the processor 210 and memory 211 to implement at least part of one or more positioning methods, but the description herein may refer to the PD 219 being configured to implement, or to implement, a positioning method. The PD 219 may also or alternatively be configured to determine the location of the UE 200 using terrestrial-based signals (e.g., at least some of the wireless signals 248) to help acquire and use the SPS signal 260 for trilateration, or both. The PD 219 may be configured to determine the location of the UE 200 based on another technique, such as a serving base station cell (e.g., cell center) and / or E-CID. PD219 may be configured to determine the location of UE200 using image recognition combined with one or more images from camera 218 and known locations of landmarks (e.g., natural landmarks such as mountains and / or artificial landmarks such as buildings, bridges, and roads). PD219 may be configured to use one or more other techniques for determining the location of UE200 (e.g., relying on the UE's self-reported location (e.g., part of the UE's location beacon)), and may use a combination of techniques (e.g., SPS and ground positioning signals) to determine the location of UE200. PD219 may include one or more sensors 213 (e.g., gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometer, etc.) that can detect the orientation and / or motion of UE200 and provide instructions for it, which can be configured for use by processor 210 (e.g., general-purpose / application processor 230 and / or DSP231) to determine the motion of UE200 (e.g., velocity vectors and / or acceleration vectors).The PD219 may be configured to provide indications of uncertainty and / or error in the determined position and / or motion. The functionality of the PD219 may be provided in various ways and / or configurations, for example, by another component of the general-purpose / application processor 230, transceiver 215, SPS receiver 217, and / or UE200, and may be provided by hardware, software, firmware, or various combinations thereof.

[0063] Referring also to Figure 3, examples of the TRP300 for gNB110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB114 include a computing platform comprising a processor 310, memory 311 containing software (SW) 312, a transceiver 315, and (optionally) an SPS receiver 317. The processor 310, memory 311, transceiver 315, and SPS receiver 317 may be communicatively coupled to one another by a bus 320 (which may be configured, for example, for optical and / or telecommunications). One or more of the shown devices (e.g., a wireless transceiver and / or SPS receiver 317) may be omitted from the TRP300. The SPS receiver 317 may be configured similarly to the SPS receiver 217 to enable receiving and acquiring SPS signals 360 via an SPS antenna 362. The processor 310 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The processor 310 may include multiple processors (for example, a general-purpose / application processor, a DSP, a modem processor, a video processor, and / or a sensor processor, as shown in Figure 2). Memory 311 is a non-temporary storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, disk memory, and / or read-only memory (ROM). Memory 311 may store software 312, which may be processor-readable processor-executable software code containing instructions configured to cause the processor 310 to perform various functions described herein when executed. Alternatively, the software 312 may not be directly executable by the processor 310, but may be configured to cause the processor 310 to perform functions when compiled and executed, for example.

[0064] This description may refer to the processor 310 performing a function, but also includes other implementations, such as the processor 310 running software and / or firmware. This description may refer to the processor 310 performing a function as a simplification of the fact that one or more processors contained within the processor 310 perform a function. This description may refer to the TRP300 performing a function as a simplification of the fact that one or more suitable components of the TRP300 (and therefore one of the gNB110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB114) (e.g., the processor 310 and memory 311) perform a function. The processor 310 may include, and / or instead of, memory with stored instructions in addition to memory 311. The functionality of the processor 310 will be discussed in more detail below.

[0065] The transceiver 315 may include a wireless transceiver 340 and / or a wired transceiver 350, respectively, configured to communicate with other devices through wireless and wired connections. For example, the wireless transceiver 340 may include a wireless transmitter 342 and a wireless receiver 344 coupled to one or more antennas 346 to transmit (e.g., over one or more uplink channels and / or one or more downlink channels) and / or receive (e.g., over one or more downlink channels and / or one or more uplink channels) a wireless signal 348, and to convert the signal from the wireless signal 348 to a wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signal, and from the wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signal to the wireless signal 348. Thus, the wireless transmitter 342 may include multiple transmitters, which may be individual components or composite / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 344 may include multiple receivers, which may be individual components or composite / integrated components. The Wireless Transceiver 340 can be configured to communicate signals (for example, with UE200, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more other devices) in accordance with various Radio Access Technologies (RATs) such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Mobile Global System), UMTS (Universal Mobile Communication System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA® (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long-Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP® LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth®, Zigbee, etc.The wired transceiver 350 may include a wired transmitter 352 and a wired receiver 354 configured for wired communication, for example, a network interface and / or one or more other network entities that can be used to communicate with the NG-RAN135 to send communications to and receive communications from the LMF120. The wired transmitter 352 may include multiple transmitters, which may be individual components or composite / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 354 may include multiple receivers, which may be individual components or composite / integrated components. The wired transceiver 350 may be configured for optical and / or telecommunications, for example.

[0066] The configuration of the TRP300 shown in Figure 3 is an example of the present disclosure, including the claims, and is not limiting; other configurations may be used. For example, the description herein states that the TRP300 is configured to perform, or will perform, several functions, one or more of which may be performed by the LMF120 and / or UE200 (i.e., the LMF120 and / or UE200 may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

[0067] See also Figure 4, a server 400, exemplified by the LMF120, comprises a computing platform including a processor 410, memory 411 containing software (SW) 412, and a transceiver 415. The processor 410, memory 411, and transceiver 415 may be communicatively coupled to one another by a bus 420 (which may be configured, for example, for optical and / or telecommunications). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., a wireless transceiver) may be omitted from the server 400. The processor 410 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 410 may include multiple processors (for example, including a general-purpose / application processor, a DSP, a modem processor, a video processor, and / or a sensor processor, as shown in Figure 2). The memory 411 is a non-temporary storage medium, which may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, disk memory, and / or read-only memory (ROM), etc. Memory 411 may store software 412, which may be processor-readable processor-executable software code containing instructions configured to cause the processor 410 to perform various functions described herein when executed. Alternatively, the software 412 may not be directly executable by the processor 410, but may be configured, for example, to cause the processor 410 to perform functions when compiled and executed. This description may refer to the processor 410 performing functions, but also to other implementations, such as the processor 410 executing software and / or firmware. This description may refer to the processor 410 performing functions as a simplification of one or more processors contained within the processor 410 performing functions. This description may refer to the server 400 performing functions as a simplification of one or more appropriate components of the server 400 performing functions.The processor 410 may include, in addition to and / or alternatively, memory containing stored instructions, in addition to memory 411. The functionality of the processor 410 will be discussed in more detail below.

[0068] The transceiver 415 may include a wireless transceiver 440 and / or a wired transceiver 450, respectively, configured to communicate with other devices through wireless and wired connections. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may include a wireless transmitter 442 and a wireless receiver 444 coupled to one or more antennas 446 to transmit (e.g., over one or more downlink channels) and / or receive (e.g., over one or more uplink channels) a wireless signal 448, and to convert the signal from the wireless signal 448 to a wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signal, and from the wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signal to the wireless signal 448. Thus, the wireless transmitter 442 may include multiple transmitters, which may be individual components or composite / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 444 may include multiple receivers, which may be individual components or composite / integrated components. The Wireless Transceiver 440 can be configured to communicate signals (for example, with UE200, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more other devices) in accordance with various Radio Access Technologies (RATs) such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Mobile Global System), UMTS (Universal Mobile Communication System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA® (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP® LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth®, Zigbee, etc. The wired transceiver 450 may include a wired transmitter 452 and a wired receiver 454 configured for wired communication, for example, a network interface, and / or one or more other network entities, which can be used to communicate with NG-RAN135 to send communications to TRP300 and receive communications from there.The wired transmitter 452 may include multiple transmitters, which may be individual components or composite / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 454 may include multiple receivers, which may be individual components or composite / integrated components. The wired transceiver 450 may be configured, for example, for optical communications and / or telecommunications.

[0069] The descriptions herein may refer to the processor 410 that performs the function, but also include other implementations, such as the processor 410 running software (stored in memory 411) and / or firmware. The descriptions herein may refer to the server 400 performing the function as a simplification of the fact that one or more of the appropriate components of the server 400 (e.g., the processor 410 and memory 411) perform the function.

[0070] The configuration of the server 400 shown in Figure 4 is an example of the present disclosure, including the claims, and is not limiting; other configurations may be used. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may be omitted. Similarly, or alternatively, while the description herein states that the server 400 is configured to perform or performs several functions, one or more of these functions may be performed by the TRP 300 and / or UE 200 (i.e., the TRP 300 and / or UE 200 may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

[0071] For ground positioning of UEs in cellular networks, techniques such as Altitude Forward Link Trilateration (AFLT) and Observation Time of Arrival Difference (OTDOA) often operate in "UE-assisted" mode, in which the UE takes measurements of a reference signal (e.g., PRS, CRS, etc.) transmitted by a base station and then provides them to a location server. The location server then calculates the UE's position based on the measurements and the known location of the base station. Because these techniques use the location server rather than the UE itself to calculate the UE's position, these positioning techniques are not frequently used in applications such as car or cell phone navigation, which instead typically rely on satellite-based positioning.

[0072] UEs can use satellite positioning systems (SPS) (Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS)) for high-precision positioning using Precision Single-Person Positioning (PPP) or Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) techniques. These techniques use supporting data such as measurements from ground stations. With LTE Release 15, data is encrypted so that only UEs subscribed to the service can read the information exclusively. Such supporting data changes over time. Therefore, UEs subscribed to the service cannot easily "break the encryption" for other UEs by passing the data to other UEs that have not paid for their subscription. This transfer must be repeated each time the supporting data changes.

[0073] In UE-assisted positioning, the UE sends measured values ​​(e.g., TDOA, angle of arrival (AoA), etc.) to a positioning server (e.g., LMF / eSMLC). The positioning server has a base station almanac (BSA) containing multiple “entries” or “records,” i.e., one record per cell, each record containing geographic cell location, but may also contain other data. Identifiers of “records” within the multiple “records” in the BSA may be referenced. The measured values ​​from the BSA and the UE may be used to calculate the UE’s position.

[0074] In conventional UE-based positioning, the UE calculates its own position and thus avoids sending measurements to a network (e.g., a location server), thereby improving latency and scalability. The UE uses relevant BSA record information from the network (e.g., the location of gNBs (or more broadly, base stations)). The BSA information may be encrypted. However, since the BSA information does not change as frequently as, for example, the previously described PPP or RTK-assisted data, it may be easier (compared to PPP or RTK information) to make the BSA information available to UEs that have joined and not paid for the decryption key. The transmission of reference signals by gNBs makes the BSA information potentially accessible to crowdsourcing or ward driving, essentially allowing the BSA information to be generated based on on-site and / or beyond-limit observations.

[0075] Positioning techniques may be characterized and / or evaluated based on one or more criteria, such as position determination accuracy and / or latency. Latency is the time elapsed between an event that triggers the determination of location-related data and the state in which that data becomes available at the positioning system interface, e.g., the LMF120 interface. In the initialization of the positioning system, the latency for location-related data to become available is called the time to first position (TTFF), and is greater than the latency after the TTFF. The inverse of the time elapsed between two consecutive states of location-related data availability is called the update rate, i.e., the rate at which location-related data is generated after the first position. Latency may depend, for example, on the processing capacity of the UE. For example, the UE may report its processing capacity as the duration of DL PRS symbols in units of time (e.g., milliseconds) that the UE can process for every amount of time T (e.g., T ms) assuming PRB (Physical Resource Block) allocation. Other examples of factors that can affect latency include the number of TRPs that the UE can process from, the number of PRSs that the UE can process, and the UE's bandwidth.

[0076] One or more of many different positioning techniques (also called positioning methods) may be used to determine the location of an entity, such as one of UE105, UE106, etc. For example, known positioning techniques include RTT, multi-RTT, OTDOA (also known as TDOA, including UL-TDOA and DL-TDOA), Rx-Tx time measurement, Extended Cell Identification (E-CID), DL-AoD, UL-AoA, etc. RTT uses the time it takes for a signal to travel from one entity to another and vice versa to determine the range between two entities. The range, as well as the known location of the first entity and the angle between the two entities (e.g., azimuth angle) may be used to determine the location of the second entity. In multi-RTT (also known as multi-cell RTT), multiple ranges from one entity (e.g., UE) to another entity (e.g., TRP) and the known locations of the other entities may be used to determine the location of a given entity. In the TDOA technique, the difference in travel time between one entity and another may be used to determine the relative range from the other entity, and this, combined with the known location of the other entity, may be used to determine the location of the entity. The angles of arrival and / or departure may be used to help determine the location of an entity. For example, the angle of arrival or departure of a signal (determined using the signal, e.g., the signal's travel time, the signal's received power, etc.) combined with the range between devices, and the known location of one of the devices, may be used to determine the location of the other device. The angle of arrival or departure may be an azimuth angle relative to a reference direction such as true north. The angle of arrival or departure may be a zenith angle relative to the direction directly upward from the entity (i.e., relative to the direction radiating outward from the center of the Earth).E-CID uses the serving cell's identity, timing advance (i.e., the difference between the receive time and transmit time at the UE), the estimated timing and power of the detected neighbor cell signal, and possibly the angle of arrival (e.g., from the base station, the signal at the UE, or vice versa) to determine the UE's location. TDOA uses the difference in arrival times at the receiving device of signals from different sources, along with the known location of the source and the known offset of the transmit time from the source, to determine the receiving device's location.

[0077] In network-centric RTT estimation, the serving base station instructs the UE to scan / receive RTT measurement signals (e.g., PRS) on the serving cells of two or more neighboring base stations (and typically the serving base station, as at least three base stations are required). One or more base stations transmit RTT measurement signals on low-reuse resources (e.g., resources used by base stations to transmit system information) allocated by the network (e.g., a location server such as LMF120). The UE records the arrival time (also called receive time, reception time, or arrival time (ToA)) of each RTT measurement signal relative to the UE's current downlink timing (e.g., derived by the UE from the DL signal received from its serving base station), and transmits a common or individual RTT response message (e.g., an SRS (sounding reference signal) for positioning, i.e., UL-PRS) to one or more base stations (e.g., when commanded by its serving base station), with a time difference T between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal and the transmission time of the RTT response message. Rx→Tx The UE Rx-Tx (i.e., UE Rx-Tx or UE Rx-Tx) should be included in the payload of each RTT response message. The RTT response message will contain a reference signal from which the base station can infer the ToA of the RTT response. The difference T between the transmission time of the RTT measurement signal from the base station and the ToA of the RTT response at the base station is... Tx→RxThe time difference T reported by UE Rx→Tx By comparing this, the base station can infer the propagation time between the base station and the UE, and from there, the base station can determine the distance between the UE and the base station by assuming the speed of light during this propagation time.

[0078] UE-centered RTT estimation is similar to network-based methods, except that the UE transmits an uplink RTT measurement signal (for example, when commanded by a serving base station), which is received by multiple base stations in the UE's vicinity. Each participating base station responds with a downlink RTT response message, which may include in its RTT response message payload the time difference between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal at the base station and the transmission time of the RTT response message from the base station.

[0079] For both network-centric and UE-centric procedures, the party performing the RTT calculation (network or UE) typically (but not always) sends a first message or signal (e.g., an RTT measurement signal), and the other party responds with one or more RTT response messages or signals, which may include the difference between the ToA of the first message or signal and the transmission time of the RTT response message or signal.

[0080] A multi-RTT technique can be used to determine location. For example, a first entity (e.g., a UE) may send one or more signals (e.g., unicast, multicast, or broadcast from a base station), and several second entities (e.g., other TSPs such as base stations and / or UEs) may receive signals from the first entity and respond to these received signals. The first entity receives responses from several second entities. The first entity (or another entity such as an LMF) may use the responses from the second entities to determine the range to the second entities, and use several ranges and known locations of the second entities to determine the location of the first entity by trilateration.

[0081] In some cases, additional information may be obtained in the form of an angle of arrival (AoA) or angle of departure (AoD) that defines a range of directions, either linearly (e.g., horizontally or three-dimensionally) or possibly (e.g., from the base station location to the UE). The intersection of the two directions can give another estimate of the UE's location.

[0082] For positioning techniques that use a PRS (Positioning Reference Signal) signal (e.g., TDOA and RTT), PRS signals sent by multiple TRPs are measured, and the signal arrival time, known transmission time, and known location of the TRP are used to determine the range from the UE to the TRP. For example, the RSTD (Reference Signal Time Difference) may be determined for PRS signals received from multiple TRPs and used in the TDOA technique to determine the UE's location. This positioning reference signal is sometimes called a PRS or PRS signal. PRS signals are usually transmitted using the same power and have the same signal characteristics (e.g., the same frequency deviation), which can cause interference between them. This can result in PRS signals from more distant TRPs being overwhelmed by PRS signals from closer TRPs, making it impossible to detect signals from more distant TRPs. PRS muting may be used to help reduce interference by muting some PRS signals (reducing the power of the PRS signals, for example, to zero, and therefore not transmitting the PRS signals). In this way, weaker PRS signals can be more easily detected by the UE (in the UE) without stronger PRS signals interfering with weaker PRS signals. The term RS, and its variations (e.g., PRS, SRS, CSI-RS (Channel Status Information - Reference Signal)), can refer to one or more reference signals.

[0083] The positioning reference signal (PRS) includes a downlink PRS (DL PRS, often simply called PRS) and an uplink PRS (UL PRS) (which may be called an SRS (sounding reference signal) for positioning purposes). The PRS may include a PN code (pseudorandom code) or may be generated using a PN code (for example, by modulating a carrier signal with a PN code) so that the PRS source can act as a pseudo-satellite. The PN code may be unique to the PRS source (at least within a specified area so that identical PRSs from different PRS sources do not overlap). The PRS may include frequency layer PRS resources and / or PRS resource sets. A DL PRS positioning frequency layer (or simply frequency layer) is a collection of DL PRS resource sets from one or more TRPs having PRS resources with common parameters composed of higher layer parameters DL-PRS-PositioningFrequencyLayer, DL-PRS-ResourceSet, and DL-PRS-Resource. Each frequency layer has DL PRS resource sets and DL PRS subcarrier spacing (SCS) for DL ​​PRS resources within the frequency layer. Each frequency layer also has DL PRS resource sets and DL PRS cyclic prefixes (CPs) for DL ​​PRS resources within the frequency layer. In 5G, a resource block occupies 12 consecutive subcarriers and a specified number of symbols. A common resource block is a set of resource blocks that occupy the channel bandwidth. A bandwidth part (BWP) is a set of consecutive common resource blocks that may include all or a subset of common resource blocks within the channel bandwidth. Additionally, the DL PRS point A parameter defines the frequency of a reference resource block (and the lowest subcarrier of the resource block), and DL PRS resources belong to the same DL PRS resource set having the same point A, and all DL PRS resource sets belong to the same frequency layer having the same point A.The frequency layer also has the same DL PRS bandwidth, the same start PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size (i.e., the frequency of PRS resource elements per symbol such that every N resource elements in a comb N are PRS resource elements). A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and may be associated with a particular TRP transmitted by the base station's antenna panel (identified by a cell ID). A PRS resource ID in a PRS resource set may be associated with an omnidirectional signal and / or a single beam (and / or beam ID) transmitted from a single base station (a base station may transmit one or more beams). Each PRS resource in a PRS resource set may be transmitted on a different beam, and therefore a PRS resource (or simply a resource) may also be referred to as a “beam.” This has no implications for whether the base station and PRS know the beams transmitted on it to the UE.

[0084] A TRP may be configured to send DL PRS on a schedule, for example, by instructions received from a server and / or by software within the TRP. According to the schedule, the TRP may send DL PRS intermittently, for example, periodically at regular intervals from the initial transmission. A TRP may be configured to send one or more PRS resource sets. A resource set is a collection of PRS resources across a single TRP, where resources have the same periodicity, common muting pattern configuration (if any), and the same repetition factor across slots. Each PRS resource set contains multiple PRS resources, each PRS resource containing multiple OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) resource elements (REs) which may be in multiple resource blocks (RBs) within N (one or more) consecutive symbols in a slot. PRS resources (or generally reference signal (RS) resources) may be called OFDM PRS resources (or OFDM RS resources). An RB is a collection of REs (Representative Errors) spanning the amount of one or more consecutive symbols in the time domain and the amount of consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain (12 for a 5G RB). Each PRS resource consists of an RE offset, a slot offset, a symbol offset within the slot, and several consecutive symbols that the PRS resource may occupy within the slot. The RE offset defines the starting RE offset of the first symbol in the DL PRS resource at frequency. The relative RE offsets of the remaining symbols in the DL PRS resource are defined based on the initial offset. The slot offset is the starting slot of the DL PRS resource relative to the corresponding resource set slot offset. The symbol offset determines the starting symbol of the DL PRS resource within the starting slot. Transmitted REs may be repeated across slots, and each transmission is called a repeat, as there may be multiple repeats within a PRS resource. DL PRS resources in a DL PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP, and each DL PRS resource has a DL PRS resource ID.In a DL PRS resource set, a DL PRS resource ID is associated with a single beam transmitted from a single TRP (although a TRP may transmit one or more beams).

[0085] PRS resources can also be defined by pseudo-collocation and start PRB parameters. Pseudo-collocation (QCL) parameters can define any pseudo-collocation information for DL ​​PRS resources with other reference signals. DL PRS may be configured to be QCL type D with DL PRS or SS / PBCH (Synchronization Signal / Physical Broadcast Channel) blocks from a serving cell or non-serving cell. DL PRS may be configured to be QCL type C with SS / PBCH blocks from a serving cell or non-serving cell. The start PRB parameter defines the start PRB index of the DL PRS resource relative to reference point A. The start PRB index has a granularity of one PRB and can have a minimum value of 0 and a maximum value of 2176 PRBs.

[0086] A PRS resource set is a collection of PRS resources that span slots and have the same periodicity, the same muting pattern configuration (if any), and the same repetition factor. Any time when all repetitions of all PRS resources in a PRS resource set are configured to be sent is called an "instance." Therefore, an "instance" of a PRS resource set is a specified number of repetitions for each PRS resource and a specified number of PRS resources in the PRS resource set, and by this means that an instance is complete when a specified number of repetitions have been sent for each of the specified number of PRS resources. An instance may also be called an "opportunity." A DL PRS configuration, including a DL PRS transmission schedule, may be provided to the UE to facilitate (or even enable) the UE to instrument DL PRS.

[0087] Multiple frequency layers of a PRS can be aggregated so that each provides an effective bandwidth greater than any of the layer bandwidths. Multiple frequency layers of component carriers (which may be consecutive and / or separate) and that meet criteria such as being pseudo-colocated (QCLed) and having the same antenna port may be stitched together to provide a larger effective PRS bandwidth (for DL ​​PRS and UL PRS) and increase arrival time measurement accuracy. Stitching involves combining PRS measurements across individual bandwidth fragments into one integrated one so that the stitched PRS can be treated as if it were taken from a single measurement. When QCLed, different frequency layers behave similarly, allowing the stitching of the PRS to result in a larger effective bandwidth. The larger effective bandwidth may be called the aggregated PRS bandwidth or aggregated PRS frequency bandwidth and results in better time-domain resolution (e.g., TDOA). An aggregated PRS includes a collection of PRS resources, each PRS resource in the aggregated PRS may be called a PRS component, and each PRS component may be transmitted on different component carriers, bandwidths, or frequency layers, or on different portions of the same bandwidth.

[0088] RTT positioning is an active positioning technique in which the RTT uses positioning signals sent by the TRP to the UE and by the UE (involved in RTT positioning) to the TRP. The TRP can send a DL-PRS signal that is received by the UE, and the UE can send an SRS (Sounding Reference Signal) signal that is received by multiple TRPs. The Sounding Reference Signal is sometimes called an SRS or SRS signal. In 5G multi-RTT, cooperative positioning may be used in conjunction with the UE sending a single UL-SRS for positioning that is received by multiple TRPs, rather than sending a separate UL-SRS for positioning to each TRP. TRPs involved in multi-RTT typically look up UEs currently camped on that TRP (serviced UEs, where the TRP is the serving TRP) and UEs camped on neighboring TRPs (neighbor UEs). A neighbor TRP may be the TRP of a single BTS (transmitting / receiving base station) (e.g., gNB), or it may be the TRP of one BTS and the TRPs of separate BTSs. For RTT positioning, including multi-RTT positioning, the DL-PRS signal and the UL-SRS signal in the positioning PRS / SRS signal pair used to determine RTT (and therefore the range between the UE and the TRP) may occur close together in time so that errors due to the movement of the UE and / or the clock drift of the UE and / or the clock drift of the TRP are within acceptable limits. For example, the signals in the positioning PRS / SRS signal pair may be transmitted from the TRP and the UE, respectively, within approximately 10 ms of each other. Because the SRS signal for positioning is transmitted by the UE, and because the PRS and SRS signals for positioning are transmitted close together in time, it is known that radio frequency (RF) signal congestion (which can cause excessive noise, etc.) may occur, especially when many UEs attempt to position simultaneously, and / or computational congestion may occur at the TRP attempting to measure many UEs simultaneously.

[0089] RTT positioning may be UE-based or UE-assisted. In UE-based RTT, UE200 determines the RTT and corresponding range to each TRP300, and the position of UE200 based on the range to TRP300 and the known location of TRP300. In UE-assisted RTT, UE200 measures a positioning signal and provides the measurement information to TRP300, which determines the RTT and range. TRP300 provides a range to a location server, for example, server 400, and the server determines the location of UE200, for example, based on the range to a different TRP300. The RTT and / or range may be determined by a TRP300 that receives a signal from UE200, by this TRP300 and one or more other devices, for example, one or more other TRP300s and / or server 400, or by one or more devices other than TRP300 that receive a signal from UE200.

[0090] Various positioning techniques are supported in 5G NR. NR-specific positioning methods supported in 5G NR include DL-only positioning, UL-only positioning, and DL+UL positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include DL-TDOA and DL-AoD. Uplink-based positioning methods include UL-TDOA and UL-AoA. Combined DL+UL-based positioning methods include RTT with a single base station and RTT with multiple base stations (multi-RTT).

[0091] Location estimates (for example, for a UE) may be referred to by other names such as location estimate, location, position, position fix, or fix. Location estimates may be geodesic, comprise coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude), or be city-related, comprise a street address, mailing address, or any other linguistic description of the location. Location estimates may further be defined for several other known locations, or may be defined in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). Location estimates may include expected errors or uncertainties (e.g., by including an area or volume in which the location is expected to be contained, at some specified or default confidence level).

[0092] Referring to Figures 5A and 5B, exemplary downlink PRS resource sets are shown. Generally, a PRS resource set is a collection of PRS resources across a single base station (e.g., TRP300) that have the same periodicity, common muting pattern configuration, and the same repetition factor across slots. The first PRS resource set 502 contains four resources and an repetition factor of 4, with a time gap equal to one slot. The second PRS resource set 504 contains four resources and an repetition factor of 4, with a time gap equal to four slots. The repetition factor indicates the number of times each PRS resource is repeated within each single instance of the PRS resource set (e.g., values ​​of 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32). The time gap represents the offset in slots between two repeated instances of a PRS resource corresponding to the same PRS resource ID within a single instance of the PRS resource set (e.g., values ​​of 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32). The duration of a single PRS resource set containing repeated PRS resources does not exceed the PRS period. Repeating PRS resources allows the receiver beam to sweep across the iterations and synthesize RF gains to increase coverage. Iterations can also enable in-instance muting.

[0093] Referring to Figure 6, exemplary subframe and slot formats for transmitting positioning reference signals are shown. These exemplary subframe and slot formats are included in the PRS resource set shown in Figures 5A and 5B. The subframe and slot formats in Figure 6 are examples, not limitations, and include com 2 602 with a 2-symbol format, com 4 604 with a 4-symbol format, com 2 606 with a 12-symbol format, com 4 608 with a 12-symbol format, com 6 610 with a 6-symbol format, com 12 612 with a 12-symbol format, com 2 614 with a 6-symbol format, and com 6 616 with a 12-symbol format. Generally, a subframe may contain 14 symbol periods with indices 0 to 13. The subframe and slot formats may be used for a physical broadcast channel (PBCH). Typically, a base station may transmit PRS from antenna port 6 on one or more slots within each subframe configured for PRS transmission. Base stations may avoid transmitting PRS on resource elements allocated to PBCH, primary synchronization signal (PSS), or secondary synchronization signal (SSS), regardless of their antenna ports. Cells may generate reference symbols for PRS based on cell ID, symbol duration index, and slot index. Generally, UEs may be able to distinguish PRS from different cells.

[0094] A base station may transmit a PRS over a specific PRS bandwidth that may be configured by higher layers. A base station may transmit a PRS over subcarriers spaced apart across the PRS bandwidth. A base station may also transmit a PRS based on parameters such as PRS periodicity (TPRS), subframe offset (PRS), and PRS duration (NPRS). PRS periodicity is the periodicity in which the PRS is transmitted. The PRS periodicity may be, for example, 160, 320, 640, or 1280 ms. The subframe offset indicates the specific subframe in which the PRS is transmitted. The PRS duration indicates the number of consecutive subframes in which the PRS is transmitted during each period of PRS transmission (PRS opportunity). The PRS duration may be, for example, 1, 2, 4, or 6 ms.

[0095] PRS periodic TPRS and subframe offset PRS can be transmitted via PRS configuration index IPRS. The PRS configuration index and PRS duration may be configured independently by the upper layer. A set of NPRS consecutive subframes in which the PRS is transmitted may be called a PRS opportunity. Each PRS opportunity may be enabled or muted; for example, a UE may apply muting bits to each cell. A PRS resource set is a collection of PRS resources across base stations having the same periodicity, a common muting pattern configuration, and the same repetition coefficient across slots (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32 slots).

[0096] Generally, the PRS resources shown in Figures 5A and 5B may be a set of resource elements used for transmitting PRS. The set of resource elements may span multiple physical resource blocks (PRBs) in the frequency domain and N (e.g., one or more) consecutive symbols within a slot in the time domain. Within a given OFDM symbol, the PRS resource occupies consecutive PRBs. A PRS resource is described by at least the following parameters: a PRS resource identifier (ID), a sequence ID, a comb size N, a resource element offset in the frequency domain, a starting slot and starting symbol, the number of symbols per PRS resource (i.e., the duration of the PRS resource), and QCL information (e.g., QCL with other DL reference signals). Currently, one antenna port is supported. The comb size indicates the number of subcarriers in each symbol carrying the PRS. For example, a comb size of 4 means that every four subcarriers of a given symbol carry the PRS.

[0097] A PRS resource set is a set of PRS resources used for transmitting PRS signals, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. In addition, PRS resources in a PRS resource set are associated with the same transmit / receive point (e.g., TRP300). Each PRS resource in a PRS resource set has the same periodicity, a common muting pattern, and the same repetition coefficient across slots. A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and may be associated with a specific TRP (identified by a cell ID) transmitted by the base station's antenna panel. A PRS resource ID in a PRS resource set may be associated with an omnidirectional signal and / or a single beam (and / or beam ID) transmitted from a single base station (a base station may transmit one or more beams). Each PRS resource in a PRS resource set may be transmitted on a different beam, and therefore, a PRS resource, or simply a resource, may also be called a beam. Note that this does not imply whether the base station and PRS know the beam transmitted on it to the UE.

[0098] Referring to Figure 7, a conceptual diagram of an exemplary positioning frequency layer 700 is shown. In one example, the positioning frequency layer 700 may be a collection of PRS resource sets across one or more TRPs. Positioning frequency layers may have the same subcarrier spacing (SCS) and cyclic prefix (CP) type, the same point A, the same DL PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB, and the same comb size. Numerologies supported for PDSCH may be supported for PRS. Each of the PRS resource sets in the positioning frequency layer 700 is a collection of PRS resources across one TRP having the same periodicity, a common muting pattern configuration, and the same iteration coefficient across slots.

[0099] It should be noted that the terms positioning reference signal and PRS refer to reference signals that can be used for positioning, without limitation, including PRS signals, navigation reference signals (NRS) in 5G, downlink positioning reference signals (DL-PRS), uplink positioning reference signals (UL-PRS), tracking reference signals (TRS), cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel status information reference signals (CSI-RS), primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS), and sounding reference signals (SRS).

[0100] The UE's ability to process PRS signals may vary based on the UE's capabilities. However, generally, industry standards may be developed to establish common PRS capabilities for UEs in a network. For example, an industry standard might require that the UE be able to process a certain duration of a DL PRS symbol in milliseconds (ms) per Tms, assuming a maximum DL PRS bandwidth in MHz supported and reported by the UE. As an example and not an limitation, the maximum DL PRS bandwidth for the FR1 band may be 5, 10, 20, 40, 50, 80, or 100 MHz, and the maximum DL PRS bandwidth for the FR2 band may be 50, 100, 200, or 400 MHz. The standard may also specify DL PRS buffering capability as Type 1 (i.e., sub-slot / symbol level buffering) or Type 2 (i.e., slot level buffering). Common UE capability may specify the duration N of a DL PRS symbol in milliseconds that the UE can process per Tms, assuming a maximum DL PRS bandwidth in MHz supported and reported by the UE. Exemplary T values ​​may include 8, 16, 20, 30, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, and 1280 ms, and exemplary N values ​​may include 0.125, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 20, 25, 30, 32, 35, 40, 45, and 50 ms. The UE may be configured to report combinations of (N, T) values ​​per bandwidth, where N is the duration of the DL PRS symbol in ms processed per Tms for a given maximum bandwidth (B) in MHz units supported by the UE. Generally, the UE should not be expected to support DL PRS bandwidths exceeding this reported DL PRS bandwidth value. UE DL PRS processing capability may be defined for a single positioning frequency layer 700. UE DL PRS processing capability may not depend on DL PRS comb coefficient configurations such as those illustrated in Figure 6. UE processing capacity may indicate the maximum number of DL PRS resources that the UE can process in the slots below it.For example, the maximum number for the FR1 band may be 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32, 48, and 64 for each SCS 15kHz, 30kHz, and 60kHz, and the maximum number for the FR2 band may be 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32, 48, and 64 for each SCS 15kHz, 30kHz, 60kHz, and 120kHz.

[0101] Referring to Figure 8, an exemplary message flow 800 for an on-demand DL-PRS procedure is shown. The exemplary message flow 800 includes elements of the core network 140, such as the UE 105, an exemplary TRP 300 such as the gNB 110a, and the AMF 115, LMF 120, and an external client 130. The message flow 800 may be used to extend an existing MO-LR procedure for requesting support data (for example, for DL-TDOA, DL-AoD, or multi-RTT). For example, the UE 105 may be configured to request support data from the LMF 120 for UE-assisted or UE-based positioning using one or more of the positioning methods, and may include additional parameters to indicate a preference for DL-PRS.Additional parameters may describe a desired PRS configuration, for example, a preferred time or period for the PRS configuration (e.g., current time, start time, and stop time), a preferred PRS resource bandwidth, a preferred duration for PRS positioning opportunities, a preferred periodicity for PRS positioning opportunities, a preferred carrier frequency or frequency layer for PRS resources, and a preferred number and location of gNB / TRPs required for the PRS configuration around the UE location, where the gNB / TRP locations may be specified using PCI or CGI, or can be represented in absolute global coordinates, or zone identifiers (e.g., NR The parameters may include one or more of the following, which may be specified as a specific location or geographical area, using a zone ID (similar to the one used in Rel-16 sidelinks) or coordinates relative to a known reference location (such as the location of a specific cell, such as a serving cell, provided to the UE in the support data): a preferred number and location of gNBs / TRPs; a preferred direction of PRS beams for individual gNB, RSRP, or RSRQ measurements (e.g., Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurements) performed by the UE for available DL signals; quality of service (QoS) parameters describing the accuracy and latency of the target location (e.g., desired accuracy and response time for any location estimates based on PRS measurements (e.g., as required by an internal UE client (e.g., an app))); and the PRS capability of the UE (e.g., as defined for LPP). Other parameters may also be used based on the configuration and capability of the respective gNBs and UE.

[0102] In one embodiment, UE105 may not have information about available on-demand DL-PRS configurations. In this case, UE105 may send one or more messages, such as an LPP assistance data request message, that include parameters for the desired DL-PRS configuration (e.g., one or more of the configuration parameters in Figure 9). In one example, DL-PRS parameters, such as those defined in LPP IE NR-DL-PRS-AssistanceData and NR-DL-PRS-Info, may be explicitly provided to LMF120 in the LPP assistance data request message.

[0103] In one embodiment, UE105 may have one or more pre-configured or pre-defined available DL-PRS configurations that can be requested on demand. In one example, each pre-configured or pre-defined DL-PRS configuration may have a set of associated DL-PRS parameters (e.g., one or more of the configuration parameters in Figure 9) and may be identified by a DL-PRS configuration identifier / index value (e.g., as shown in Figure 10). An LPP support data request message may include a DL-PRS configuration identifier / index (or a list of desired DL-PRS configuration identifiers / indexes sorted by priority) for the desired on-demand DL-PRS configuration. In another example, an LPP support data request message may include a list of DL-PRS parameters (e.g., one or more of the configuration parameters in Figure 9) that are requested to be changed compared to a pre-configured DL-PRS configuration. For example, an LPP support data request message may include a request to change the DL-PRS bandwidth or DL-PRS beam direction in a previously provided DL-PRS support data message.

[0104] The set of possible on-demand DL-PRS configurations may be defined by a "primary DL-PRS configuration" (e.g., defining the default DL-PRS) and one or more "secondary DL-PRS configurations," the secondary DL-PRS configurations may contain different DL-PRS parameters compared to the primary DL-PRS configuration (i.e., using delta coding / signaling to reduce overhead). This set of possible on-demand DL-PRS configurations may be defined as a new LPP-assisted data IE, which can also be mapped to a new posSIB for broadcasting the possible on-demand DL-PRS configurations. The new posSIB type may be configured to define a list of possible on-demand DL-PRS configurations (which may not currently be active), along with an identifier value.

[0105] In one example, an LPP support data request message may be configured to include a clear parameter list for the desired DL-PRS configuration in order to support on-demand DL-PRS. The new LPP support data IE includes a set of possible DL-PRS configurations that can be requested on demand by the UE (e.g., IE On-Demand-DL-PRS-Configurations). Each DL-PRS configuration in IE On-Demand-DL-PRS-Configurations may have a set of associated DL-PRS parameters (e.g., one or more of the configuration parameters in Figure 9) and identifiers. In one example, a posSIB type may be configured to include LPP IE On-Demand-DL-PRS-Configurations. In one example, an LPP support data request message may include an index / pointer / identifier corresponding to an element in LPP IE On-Demand-DL-PRS-Configurations that defines the requested on-demand DL-PRS.

[0106] In operation, the extended LPP support data request message may be included in the MO-LR request message (for example, in the case of an internal UE LCS client) or may be part of an active / ongoing LPP session (for example, to modify the provided DL-PRS configuration). The LMF120 may be configured to request changes to DL-PRS transmissions from multiple gNBs / TRPs.

[0107] Referring to message flow 800, in steps 1a and 1b, the LMF120 may provide the gNB110a with one or more posSIBs in the NRPPa support information control message for broadcast in positioning system information, which include a set of possible on-demand DL-PRS configurations. The set of possible on-demand DL-PRS configurations may include a primary DL-PRS configuration (e.g., a default DL-PRS configuration) and one or more secondary DL-PRS configurations, the secondary DL-PRS configurations may define possible changes in DL-PRS compared to the primary DL-PRS configuration (e.g., different bandwidth, duration of positioning opportunities, and / or frequency of positioning opportunities). Each possible on-demand DL-PRS configuration is associated with a unique identifier. Alternatively, or additionally, the posSIB may also indicate which particular DL-PRS parameters may be requested to be changed on demand.

[0108] In step 2a, UE105 may be configured to send an MO-LR request message to the serving AMF115, which is contained in a UL NAS transport message that includes a request for on-demand DL-PRS transmission. The MO-LR request may include an LPP support data request message that defines parameters for a preferred DL-PRS configuration, which may also include a start time and / or duration, specifying when and / or how long the requested DL-PRS configuration is needed at the UE (e.g., in seconds, minutes, or hours). The request may additionally include an LPP capability provision message that includes the DL-PRS capability of UE105, and an LPP location information provision message (e.g., providing E-CID measurements). Alternatively, in step 2b, an external client 130, or some entity in 5GC (e.g., GMLC125), requests some location service (e.g., positioning) for UE105 from the serving AMF115. Alternatively, in step 2c, the serving AMF115 for UE105 may be configured to determine the need for some location service (for example, to locate UE105 for an emergency call).

[0109] In step 3, the AMF115 may be configured to invoke the Nlmf_Location_DetermineLocation service operation to the LMF120. If step 2a is performed, the service operation may include an MO-LR request from step 2a. If step 2b or 2c is performed, the service operation may include a request for the current location of UE105, an LCS client type, and any required QoS. In step 4, the LMF120 may perform one or more LPP procedures (for example, to obtain DL-PRS positioning capability for UE105). In step 5, the LMF120 may be configured to determine a new DL-PRS configuration for one or more gNBs (for example, gNB110a) based on the requests received in step 3. The determination in step 5 may also be based on location requests from and to other UEs near UE105 that are received by the LMF120 at approximately the same time.

[0110] In step 6, the LMF120 may be configured to initiate the NRPPa DL-PRS reconfiguration procedure with each of the gNBs determined in step 5. If some gNBs indicate that they cannot support the new DL-PRS configuration, the LMF120 may be configured to perform step 11 to restore the old DL-PRS configuration in each of the gNBs that indicated that the new DL-PRS configuration could be supported, in order to avoid interference between gNBs that support the new DL-PRS configuration and those that do not. In this case, the LMF120 may provide the UE with the old DL-PRS configuration in step 8 instead of the new DL-PRS configuration.

[0111] In step 7, each of the gNBs that acknowledged support for the new DL-PRS configuration in step 6 (e.g., gNB110a) may be configured to change from the old DL-PRS configuration to the new DL-PRS configuration either after (or immediately before) sending an acknowledgment in step 6 if no start time was provided, or at the start time indicated in step 6. In some cases, the old DL-PRS configuration may correspond to not sending DL-PRS. In step 8, LMF120 may be configured to send an LPP support data provision message to UE105 to provide the new DL-PRS configuration determined in step 5 and acknowledged in step 6. This message may also include the start time and duration of each new DL-PRS configuration. If step 2b or 2c is performed, LMF120 may initiate the LPP and possibly NRPPa procedure to obtain the location of UE105.

[0112] In step 9, LMF120 may return an Nlmf_Location_DetermineLocation response to AMF115. If step 2a is performed, the message may indicate whether the DL-PRS support data was successfully transferred. If step 2b or step 2c is performed, the message may include the location of UE105. In step 10a, if step 2a is performed, AMF115 may forward the response from step 9 to UE105 via an MO-LR response. In step 10b, if step 2b is performed, AMF115 may forward the response to the external client 130 / 5GC LCS entity.

[0113] In step 11, if the duration for the new DL-PRS was not included in step 6, the LMF120 may be configured to initiate the NRPPa DL-PRS reconfiguration procedure with each of the gNBs determined in step 5 to restore the old DL-PRS configuration for each gNB. In step 12, each gNB may begin transmitting the old DL-PRS configuration when the duration received in step 6 expires, or after receiving and acknowledging the request to restore the old DL-PRS configuration in step 11. In some cases, the old DL-PRS configuration may correspond to not transmitting DL-PRS.

[0114] Referring to Figure 9, an exemplary data structure 900 for requested DL-PRS configuration information is shown. The data structure 900 may be one or more tables and fields configured to be stored and transferred between network entities such as LMF120, gNB110a, and UE105. In one example, parameter 902 may correspond to the PRS resource shown in Figure 7. In one embodiment, the on-demand DL-PRS procedure provided herein may utilize a new support data information element (IE) that shows parameter 902 as a set of possible DL-PRS configurations. Each DL-PRS configuration in the set may include several associated DL-PRS parameters 902. Parameters 902 may be based on requests from the UE or LMF. For example, the UE-derived subset 904 of parameters may be based on parameters that UE105 may be aware of or have control over. Similarly, the LMF-derived subset 906 of parameters may be based on parameters that LMF120 may wish to modify. The list of parameters in the subsets of parameters 904 and 906 is an example, not an exhaustive list, as other subsets may be used.

[0115] In one example, referring to Figure 10, each DL-PRS configuration in a set may be identified by a DL-PRS configuration identifier 1002, or a similar field. For example, each DL-PRS configuration identifier 1002 may be associated with a parameter list and corresponding parameter value 1004 based on parameter 902 in Figure 9. Thus, the first DL-PRS parameter set 1006a may be identified by a DL-PRS configuration identifier 1002, the second DL-PRS parameter set 1006b, the third DL-PRS parameter set 1006c, and the fourth DL-PRS parameter set 1006d may be identified by their respective DL-PRS configuration identifiers. Additional DL-PRS parameter sets may also be configured. In one example, an On-Demand-DL-PRS-Configuration IE may be contained in one or more posSIBs that may be included in a posSI broadcast. In operation, the UE may be configured to receive new posSIBs and store the IE On-Demand-DL-PRS-Configuration information. The UE may be configured to obtain posSIB in different RRC states (i.e., RRC_IDLE, RRC_INACTIVE, RRC_CONNECTED) and thus recognize which particular DL-PRS configuration may be requested on demand.

[0116] Referring to Figure 11, and further to Figures 8-9, an exemplary message flow 1100 for DL-PRS reconfiguration is shown. The message flow includes an LMF 120 and one or more TRP 300s such as gNB 110a. The purpose of the message flow 1100 is to enable the LMF 120 to request a change to DL-PRS transmission. In step 1, the LMF 120 may be configured to send an NRPPa DL-PRS reconfiguration request message to a selected gNB (e.g., gNB 110a) to request a change to DL-PRS transmission. The message may include DL-PRS configuration information determined for that gNB, including the start time and duration of each new DL-PRS configuration. The DL-PRS configuration for each gNB may be used to change the DL-PRS bandwidth, the duration of DL-PRS positioning opportunities, DL-PRS transmission at a new frequency, and / or the frequency of DL-PRS positioning opportunities, based on one or more of the parameters 902. In one embodiment, the required DL-PRS configuration may be selected from one or more pre-configured DL-PRS configuration parameter sets 1006a-d to support on-demand DL-PRS transmission. For directional DL-PRS beams, the LMF 120 may determine a directional DL-PRS beam for each gNB to be received by the target UE. The directional DL-PRS beam may be selected by the LMF 120 according to a known approximate location of the target UE. In step 2, if the new DL-PRS configuration can be supported by the gNB 110a, the gNB 110a returns an acknowledgment in the NRPPa DL-PRS reconstruction response message. If the new DL-PRS configuration cannot be supported by the gNB 110a, the gNB 110a may be configured to return a failure message.

[0117] Referring to Figure 12, and further to Figures 8 and 9, an exemplary message flow 1200 for a UE-initiated on-demand DL-PRS request procedure is shown. The message flow 1200 includes an LMF 120 and a UE 105. The purpose of the message flow 1200 is to enable the UE 105 to request a change to DL-PRS transmission. This procedure is applicable, for example, when the UE 105 does not have knowledge of possible DL-PRS configurations, or when the current DL-PRS configuration corresponds to not transmitting DL-PRS. In step 1, the UE 105 may be configured to send an LPP-assisted data request message to the LMF 120 to request a change to one or more DL-PRS transmissions. The message may include parameters 902 for a preferred DL-PRS configuration (which may include a preferred DL-PRS bandwidth, a preferred duration of DL-PRS positioning opportunities, and a preferred DL-PRS beam direction for a certain gNB, if known by the UE). The message may also include a start time and / or duration (e.g., the number of seconds, minutes, or hours for which the DL-PRS configuration is required) indicating when and / or how long the requested DL-PRS configuration is needed in UE105. The message may be carried in an MO-LR request message as described in step 2a of message flow 800. In step 2, LMF120 may be configured to send an LPP support data provision message to UE105 containing the new DL-PRS configuration information (e.g., updated parameters 902). This message may also include the start time and duration for each new DL-PRS configuration.

[0118] Referring to Figure 13, and further to Figures 8 and 9, an exemplary message flow 1300 for a support data modification procedure is shown. Message flow 1300 includes UE 105, gNB 110a, and LMF 120. The purpose of message flow 1300 is to enable UE 105 to request changes to a DL-PRS transmission if UE 105 has knowledge of possible DL-PRS configurations (e.g., via previously provided support data or via broadcast information). In step 1a, gNB 110a may be configured to broadcast DL-PRS support data in a positioning system information message corresponding to the currently active DL-PRS transmission, which may optionally include instructions on which DL-PRS parameters can be modified on demand. In step 1b, LMF 120 may be configured to provide UE 105 with DL-PRS support data corresponding to the currently active DL-PRS transmission, which may optionally include instructions on which DL-PRS parameters can be modified on demand (e.g., during an active LPP session). In step 2, UE105 is configured to send an LPP support data request message to LMF120 to request a change to the currently active DL-PRS transmission. The message may include instructions on which DL-PRS parameters 902 are requested to be changed (this may include changes to the DL-PRS bandwidth, changes to DL-PRS positioning opportunities, changes to DL-PRS resources (e.g., "beam on / off" via DL-PRS resource ID addition / release)). The message may also include a start time and / or duration (e.g., the number of seconds, minutes, or hours for which the DL-PRS configuration is required) indicating when and / or how long the modified DL-PRS configuration is required at the target device. If step 1a is performed, the message may be carried in an MO-LR request message as described in step 2a of message flow 800.In step 3, the LMF120 may be configured to provide the UE105 with a modified LPP support data providing message indicating DL-PRS parameters (e.g., one or more of the parameters 902) that have been modified compared to the support data provided in step 1 and may include a start time and / or duration.

[0119] Referring to Figure 14, and further to Figures 8 and 9, an exemplary message flow 1400 for a support data preconfiguration procedure is shown. Message flow 1400 includes UE105, gNB110a, and LMF120. The purpose of message flow 1400 is to enable UE105 to request a change to DL-PRS transmission from a set of possible DL-PRS configurations previously provided to UE105. In step 1a, gNB110a may be configured to broadcast a plurality of DL-PRS support data configurations that can be requested on demand in positioning system information, as described in step 1b of message flow 800. The broadcasted DL-PRS support data configurations may be applicable locally (e.g., to the broadcasting gNB110a and neighboring gNBs (not shown in Figure 14)) or may be valid across the entire Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) and may be distinguished by local / global designation.

[0120] In step 1b, LMF120 may be configured to provide UE105 with multiple DL-PRS support data configurations (for example, as part of a localization session). Each DL-PRS configuration in steps 1a and 1b may have a unique identifier and may be valid for a certain geographical area and duration, for example, defined by the coverage area and validity period of the support data reference TRP. Multiple DL-PRS support data sets may be provided as a primary configuration (i.e., a currently active or default DL-PRS configuration) along with a number of secondary configurations, the secondary configurations may contain only different DL-PRS configuration parameters compared to the primary DL-PRS configuration (i.e., delta signaling). In step 2, UE105 may be configured to send an LPP support data request message to LMF120 to request a change to DL-PRS transmission. The message may include a DL-PRS configuration identifier 1002 of the requested DL-PRS configuration from the set of possible DL-PRS configurations provided in steps 1a and 1b. If step 1a is performed, the message may be carried in an MO-LR request message as described in step 2b of the message flow 800. In step 3, the LMF 120 may provide the UE 105 with a DL-PRS configuration identifier 1002 for the new DL-PRS configuration.

[0121] Referring to Figure 15, and further to Figures 1-14, Method 1500 for determining location using on-demand positioning reference signals, performed on user equipment, includes the steps shown. However, Method 1500 is an example and not limiting. Method 1500 may be modified, for example, by adding, removing, rearranging, combining, performing simultaneously, and / or dividing a single step into multiple steps.

[0122] In step 1502, the method includes the step of receiving first support data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration. The UE200, including the transceiver 215 and the processor 230, is a means for receiving the first support data. In one embodiment, a TRP300, such as a gNB110a, may be configured to broadcast the first support data as DL-PRS support data in a positioning system information message corresponding to a currently active DL-PRS transmission. In one example, the first support data may include a plurality of DL-PRS support data configurations that can be requested on demand in the positioning system information. In one embodiment, an LMF120 may be configured to provide DL-PRS support data corresponding to a currently active DL-PRS transmission, which may optionally include an indication of which DL-PRS parameters can be modified on demand (for example, during an active LPP session).

[0123] In step 1504, the method includes the step of sending a request to modify one or more parameters of a first positioning reference signal configuration. The UE200, including the transceiver 215 and the processor 230, is a means for sending a request to modify one or more parameters. In one example, the UE200 may be configured to send an LPP-assisted data request message to the LMF120 to request a change to the first positioning reference signal configuration (e.g., the currently active DL-PRS transmit). The message may include an instruction on which DL-PRS parameter 902 is to be changed (this may include a change to the DL-PRS bandwidth, a change to the DL-PRS positioning opportunity, a change to the DL-PRS resource (e.g., "beam on / off" via DL-PRS resource ID addition / release)). The message may also include a start time and / or duration (e.g., the number of seconds, minutes, or hours for which the DL-PRS configuration is required) indicating when and / or how long the modified DL-PRS configuration is required in the target device. In one embodiment, a request to modify one or more parameters may be carried in an MO-LR request message, as described in step 2a of the message flow 800.

[0124] In step 1506, the method includes receiving second support data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, the second positioning reference signal configuration being at least in part based on a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration. The UE200, including the transceiver 215 and the processor 230, is a means for receiving the second support data. In one embodiment, the LMF 120 may be configured to provide the UE200 with a modified LPP support data providing message indicating the modified DL-PRS parameters compared to the first support data provided in step 1502. In one example, the second support data may include a DL-PRS configuration identifier 1002 associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration (e.g., a new DL-PRS configuration).

[0125] In step 1508, the method includes the step of acquiring a measurement from one or more positioning reference signals, at least in part on second support data. The UE200, including the transceiver 215 and processor 230, is a means for acquiring measurements for one or more reference signals. The UE200 is configured to acquire and measure DL-PRS transmitted by one or more gNBs (e.g., gNB110a) according to the DL-PRS configuration provided in the second support data received in step 1506. For example, but not limited to, the UE200 may acquire UE Rx-Tx time difference measurements, ToA, TDoA, RSTD, or other reference signal measurements based on DL-PRS transmissions.

[0126] In step 1510, the method includes the step of determining the location based at least in part on measurements obtained from one or more positioning reference signals. UE200, including processor 230, is an exemplary means for determining the location. UE200 is configured to determine the location based on DL-PRS measurements obtained in step 1508. For example, UE200 may utilize UE RxTx time difference measurements and gNB RxTx time difference measurements to determine the distance to multiple gNBs, and may utilize the location of gNBs to determine the current location using multi-RTT positioning techniques. Other known positioning techniques such as OTDOA, AoD, and ECID may also be used to determine the location of UE200.

[0127] Referring to Figure 16, and further to Figures 1-14, Method 1600 for providing support data associated with an on-demand positioning reference signal includes the steps shown. However, Method 1600 is an example and not limiting. Method 1600 may be modified, for example, by adding, deleting, rearranging, combining, and performing steps simultaneously, and / or by dividing a single step into multiple steps.

[0128] In step 1602, the method includes sending first support data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration to a user device. A server 400, including a transceiver 415 and a processor 410, is a means for sending the first support data. In one embodiment, the LMF 120 may be configured to provide DL-PRS support data corresponding to a currently active DL-PRS transmission, which may optionally include instructions on which DL-PRS parameters can be modified on demand (for example, during an active LPP session). In one example, the first support data may include a plurality of DL-PRS support data configurations that can be requested on demand in positioning system information.

[0129] In step 1604, the method includes receiving a request from user equipment to modify one or more parameters of a first positioning reference signal configuration. A server 400, including a transceiver 415 and a processor 410, is a means for receiving requests to modify one or more parameters. In one example, UE200 may be configured to send an LPP-assisted data request message to LMF120 to request a change to the first positioning reference signal configuration (e.g., a currently active DL-PRS transmit). The message may include an indication of which DL-PRS parameter 902 is to be changed (this may include a change to the DL-PRS bandwidth, a change to the DL-PRS positioning opportunity, a change to the DL-PRS resource (e.g., "beam on / off" via DL-PRS resource ID addition / release)). The message may also include a start time and / or duration (e.g., the number of seconds, minutes, or hours for which the DL-PRS configuration is required) indicating when and / or how long the modified DL-PRS configuration is needed at the target device. In one embodiment, a request to modify one or more parameters may be carried in an MO-LR request message, as described in step 2a of the message flow 800.

[0130] In step 1606, the method includes the step of generating second support data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, the second positioning reference signal configuration being at least in part based on a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration. A server 400, including a transceiver 415 and a processor 410, is a means for generating the second support data. In one embodiment, the LMF 120 may be configured to generate a modified LPP support data providing message indicating DL-PRS parameters that have been modified compared to the first support data provided in step 1602. In one example, the second support data may include a DL-PRS configuration identifier 1002 associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration (e.g., a new DL-PRS configuration).

[0131] In step 1608, the method includes the step of sending second support data to user equipment. Server 400, including transceiver 415 and processor 410, is a means for sending the second support data. In one embodiment, LMF 120 may send an LPP support data provision message to UE 200.

[0132] Referring to Figure 17, and further to Figures 1-14, Method 1700 for transmitting an on-demand positioning reference signal includes the steps shown. However, Method 1700 is an example and not limiting. Method 1700 may be modified, for example, by adding, removing, rearranging, combining, performing simultaneously, and / or dividing a single step into multiple steps.

[0133] In step 1702, the method includes the step of transmitting one or more positioning reference signals based on a first positioning reference signal configuration. The TRP300, including the transceiver 315 and the processor 310, is a means for transmitting one or more positioning reference signals. In one embodiment, the TRP300, such as the gNB110a, is configured to transmit a DL-PRS based on a first configuration. The first PRS configuration may be a PRS transmitted before receiving an on-demand request from the UE or LMF. In one example, the TRP300 may be configured to broadcast DL-PRS support data in a positioning system information message corresponding to a currently active DL-PRS transmission, which may include an indication of which DL-PRS parameters may be modified on demand.

[0134] In step 1704, the method includes receiving a request to modify one or more parameters of a first positioning reference signal configuration. The TRP 300, including the transceiver 315 and processor 310, is a means for receiving the request to modify one or more parameters. In one embodiment, the LMF 120 may be configured to send an NRPPa DL-PRS reconfiguration request message to the TRP 300 to request a change to DL-PRS transmission. The message may include DL-PRS configuration information determined for that TRP, including the start time and duration of each new DL-PRS configuration. The DL-PRS configuration for each TRP may be used to change the DL-PRS bandwidth, the duration of DL-PRS positioning opportunities, DL-PRS transmission at a new frequency, and / or the frequency of DL-PRS positioning opportunities, etc., based on one or more of the parameters 902. In one embodiment, the required DL-PRS configuration may be selected from one or more pre-configured DL-PRS configuration parameter sets 1006a-d to support on-demand DL-PRS transmission. For directional DL-PRS beams, the LMF 120 may determine a directional DL-PRS beam for each gNB to be received by the target UE. The directional DL-PRS beam may be selected by the LMF 120 according to a known approximate location of the target UE.

[0135] In step 1706, the method includes the step of transmitting one or more positioning reference signals based on a second positioning reference signal configuration, the second positioning reference signal configuration being at least in part based on a requirement to modify one or more parameters of a first positioning reference signal configuration. The TRP300, including transceiver 315 and processor 310, is a means for transmitting one or more positioning reference signals. In one embodiment, the TRP300 may be configured to change an old DL-PRS configuration (e.g., a first reference signal configuration) to a new DL-PRS configuration (e.g., a second reference signal configuration).

[0136] Other examples and implementations are within the scope of this disclosure and the appended claims. For example, depending on the nature of the software and the computer, the functions described above may be implemented using software, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or any combination thereof, executed by a processor. The features implementing the functions may also be physically located in various locations, including the distribution of the functional parts so that they are implemented in various physical locations.

[0137] Functional or other components shown in the figures and / or discussed herein, connected to or communicating with one another, are connected in a communicative manner unless otherwise stated. That is, components may be connected directly or indirectly to enable communication between them.

[0138] As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” also include the plural form unless the context otherwise explicitly indicates. For example, “processor” may include one processor or more processors. The terms “equipped,” “equipped,” “contains,” and / or “contains,” as used herein, express the presence of the feature, complete, step, operation, element, and / or component being referred to, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, complete, step, operation, element, component, and / or group thereof.

[0139] When used herein, unless otherwise specified, any statement that a function or operation is "based on" an item or condition means that the function or operation is based on the stated item or condition, and may be based on one or more additional items and / or conditions.

[0140] Furthermore, as used herein, in lists of items (which may begin with "at least one of" or "one or more of"), "or" indicates a disjunctive list such as, for example, the list "at least one of A, B, or C", or the list "one or more of A, B, or C", or the list "A or B or C", meaning A, or B, or C, or AB (A and B), or AC (A and C), or BC (B and C), or ABC (i.e., A and B and C), or a combination of two or more elements (e.g., AA, AAB, ABBC, etc.). Thus, a statement that an item, for example, a processor is configured to perform a function relating to at least one of A or B, or a statement that an item is configured to perform function A or function B, means that the item may be configured to perform a function relating to A, or may be configured to perform a function relating to B, or may be configured to perform functions relating to both A and B. For example, the phrase "a processor configured to measure at least one of A or B" or "a processor configured to measure A or B" means that the processor may be configured to measure A (and may or may not be configured to measure B), or may be configured to measure B (and may or may not be configured to measure A), or may be configured to measure A and B (and may be configured to select either A or B or both). Similarly, a description of means for measuring at least one of A or B includes means for measuring A (and may or may not be able to measure B), or means for measuring B (and may or may not be configured to measure A), or means for measuring A and B (and may be able to select either A or B or both to measure).As another example, a description of an item, for instance, that a processor is configured to perform at least one of the following: perform function X or perform function Y, means that the item may be configured to perform function X, or may be configured to perform function Y, or may be configured to perform function X and function Y. For example, the phrase "a processor configured to perform at least one of the following: measure X or measure Y" means that the processor may be configured to measure X (and may or may not be configured to measure Y), or may be configured to measure Y (and may or may not be configured to measure X), or may be configured to measure both X and Y (and may be configured to choose to measure either X or Y, or both). Significant modifications may be made according to specific requirements. For example, customized hardware may be used, and / or certain elements may be implemented in hardware, software run by the processor (including portable software such as applets), or both. Furthermore, connectivity to other computing devices, such as network input / output devices, may be utilized.

[0141] The systems and devices described above are examples. Various configurations may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For example, features described for some configurations can be combined with various other configurations. Different disclosures and elements of configurations can be combined in the same way. Furthermore, technology is evolving, and therefore many of the elements are examples and do not limit the scope of this disclosure or claims.

[0142] A wireless communication system is one in which communication is transmitted wirelessly, that is, by electromagnetic and / or acoustic waves that propagate through the atmosphere rather than through wires or other physical connections. A wireless communication network may not have all communications transmitted wirelessly, but it may be configured to have at least some communications transmitted wirelessly. Furthermore, the term “wireless communication device” or similar terms does not require that the functionality of the device is exclusively or uniformly primary for communication, or that the device is a mobile device, but that the device includes wireless communication capabilities (unidirectional or bidirectional), for example, at least one radio for wireless communication (each radio being part of a transmitter, receiver, or transceiver).

[0143] The description provides specific details to give a complete understanding of exemplary configurations (including implementation forms). However, the configurations can be practiced without these specific details. For example, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques are shown without unnecessary details to avoid obscuring the configurations. This description provides exemplary configurations and does not limit the scope, applicability, or configurations of the claims. Rather, the preceding description of the configurations provides instructions for implementing the described techniques. Various modifications can be made to the function and configuration of the elements without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0144] As used herein, the terms “processor-readable medium,” “machine-readable medium,” and “computer-readable medium” refer to any medium involved in providing data that enables a machine to operate in a particular manner. In computing platforms, various processor-readable media may be involved in providing instructions / code to a processor for execution and / or used to store and / or carry such instructions / code (e.g., signals). In many implementations, processor-readable media are physical and / or tangible storage media. Such media can take numerous forms, including, but are not limited to, non-volatile and volatile media. Non-volatile media include, for example, optical disks and / or magnetic disks. Volatile media include, but are not limited to, dynamic memory.

[0145] The statement that a value exceeds (or is greater than or above) a first threshold is equivalent to the statement that a value satisfies or exceeds a second threshold that is slightly greater than the first threshold, for example, the second threshold being a single value higher than the first threshold in the computing system's resolution. The statement that a value is less than (or is within or below) a first threshold is equivalent to the statement that a value is less than or equal to a second threshold that is slightly lower than the first threshold, for example, the second threshold being a single value lower than the first threshold in the computing system's resolution.

[0146] Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0147] Clause 1. A method for determining the location of a user device, comprising: receiving first support data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration; transmitting a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; receiving second support data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is at least partially based on the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; obtaining measured values ​​from one or more positioning reference signals at least partially based on the second support data; and determining the location at least partially based on the measured values ​​obtained from one or more positioning reference signals.

[0148] Clause 2. The method of Clause 1, wherein the first support data includes instructions for one or more positioning reference signal configuration parameters that can be modified on demand.

[0149] Clause 3. The first support data is received via one or more positioning system information blocks transmitted by a base station, in the manner of Clause 1.

[0150] Clause 4. The method of Clause 1, wherein a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration includes a request to modify at least one of the positioning reference signal bandwidth, the duration of positioning opportunities, and the frequency of positioning opportunities.

[0151] Clause 5. A request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration is made by the method of Clause 1, including a positioning reference configuration identifier associated with one or more positioning reference signal parameters.

[0152] Clause 6. A request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration is included in the mobile-origin location request message, in the manner of Clause 1.

[0153] Clause 7. The second support data is received from the location management function via Long-Term Evolution Positioning Protocol messages, in the manner of Clause 1.

[0154] Clause 8. The method of Clause 1, wherein the first support data is associated with a plurality of positioning reference signal configurations, and the step of transmitting a request to modify one or more parameters includes the step of providing an identifier associated with one of the plurality of positioning reference signal configurations.

[0155] Clause 9. The method of Clause 8, wherein the step of receiving second support data includes the step of receiving an identifier associated with one of a plurality of positioning reference signal configurations.

[0156] Article 10. A method for providing support data associated with an on-demand positioning reference signal, comprising the steps of: sending first support data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration to a user device; receiving a request from the user device to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; generating second support data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is at least partially based on the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; and sending the second support data to the user device.

[0157] Clause 11. The method of Clause 10, wherein the first support data includes instructions for one or more positioning reference signal configuration parameters that can be modified on demand.

[0158] Clause 12. The method of Clause 10, wherein the step of sending first support data includes the step of providing one or more positioning system information blocks to a base station.

[0159] Clause 13. The method of Clause 10, wherein a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration includes a request to modify at least one of the positioning reference signal bandwidth, the duration of positioning opportunities, and the frequency of positioning opportunities.

[0160] Clause 14. A request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration is made in the manner of Clause 10, including a positioning reference configuration identifier associated with one or more positioning reference signal parameters.

[0161] Clause 15. A request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration is included in the mobile-origin location request message, in the manner of Clause 10.

[0162] Clause 16. The second support data is included in the Long-Term Evolution Positioning Protocol message, in the manner of Clause 10.

[0163] Clause 17. The first support data is associated with a plurality of positioning reference signal configurations, and the request to modify one or more parameters includes an identifier associated with one of the plurality of positioning reference signal configurations, in the manner of Clause 10.

[0164] Clause 18. The second support data includes an identifier associated with one of a plurality of positioning reference signal configurations, in the manner of Clause 17.

[0165] Article 19. A method for transmitting an on-demand positioning reference signal, comprising the steps of: transmitting one or more positioning reference signals based on a first positioning reference signal configuration; receiving a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; and transmitting one or more positioning reference signals based on a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is at least partially based on the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration.

[0166] Clause 20. The method of Clause 19, which includes a requirement to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration, the requirement to modify at least one of the positioning reference signal bandwidth, the duration of positioning opportunities, and the frequency of positioning opportunities.

[0167] Clause 21. A request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration is made in the manner of Clause 19, including the start time and duration for transmitting one or more positioning reference signals based on the second positioning reference signal configuration.

[0168] Clause 22. A request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration is made in the manner of Clause 19, including a positioning reference configuration identifier associated with one or more positioning reference signal parameters.

[0169] Clause 23. The second positioning reference signal configuration is the method of Clause 19, including the desired beam direction.

[0170] Clause 24. An apparatus comprising memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive first support data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration, transmit a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration, and receive second support data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is configured to at least partially be based on the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration, acquire measured values ​​from one or more positioning reference signals at least partially based on the second support data, and determine a location at least partially based on the measured values ​​acquired from one or more positioning reference signals.

[0171] Clause 25. The apparatus of Clause 24, wherein the first support data includes instructions for one or more positioning reference signal configuration parameters that can be modified on demand.

[0172] Clause 26. The device of Clause 24 receives the first support data via one or more positioning system information blocks transmitted by a base station.

[0173] Clause 27. The requirement to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration includes the requirement to modify at least one of the positioning reference signal bandwidth, the duration of positioning opportunities, and the frequency of positioning opportunities of the device of Clause 24.

[0174] Article 28. The request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration includes a positioning reference configuration identifier associated with one or more positioning reference signal parameters in the device of Article 24.

[0175] Clause 29. A request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration is included in the mobile-originating location request message of the device under Clause 24.

[0176] Clause 30. The second support data is received from the location management function via Long-Term Evolution Positioning Protocol messages, as per the device in Clause 24.

[0177] Clause 31. The apparatus of Clause 24, wherein the first support data is associated with a plurality of positioning reference signal configurations, and at least one processor is further configured to provide an identifier associated with one of the plurality of positioning reference signal configurations.

[0178] Clause 32. The apparatus of Clause 31, wherein at least one processor is further configured to receive an identifier associated with one of a plurality of positioning reference signal configurations.

[0179] Clause 33. An apparatus comprising memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to send first support data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration to a user device, receive a request from the user device to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration, and generate second support data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is at least partially based on the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration, and send the second support data to the user device.

[0180] Clause 34. The apparatus of Clause 33, wherein the first support data includes instructions for one or more positioning reference signal configuration parameters that can be modified on demand.

[0181] Clause 35. The apparatus of Clause 33, further comprising at least one processor configured to provide one or more positioning system information blocks to a base station.

[0182] Clause 36. The request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration includes the request to modify at least one of the positioning reference signal bandwidth, the duration of positioning opportunities, and the frequency of positioning opportunities of the device of Clause 33.

[0183] Article 37. The request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration includes a positioning reference configuration identifier associated with one or more positioning reference signal parameters in the device of Article 33.

[0184] Clause 38. A request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration is included in the mobile-originating location request message of the device of Clause 33.

[0185] Clause 39. The second support data is included in the Long-Term Evolution Positioning Protocol message, as per the device in Clause 33.

[0186] Clause 40. The first support data is associated with multiple positioning reference signal configurations, and the request to modify one or more parameters includes an identifier associated with one of the multiple positioning reference signal configurations, as per the device of Clause 33.

[0187] Clause 41. The second support data includes an identifier associated with one of a plurality of positioning reference signal configurations, as per the device of Clause 40.

[0188] Clause 42. An apparatus comprising memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to transmit one or more positioning reference signals based on a first positioning reference signal configuration, to receive a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration, and to transmit one or more positioning reference signals based on a second positioning reference signal configuration, the second positioning reference signal configuration being at least partially based on a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration.

[0189] Clause 43. The device of Clause 42, for which a requirement to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration includes a requirement to modify at least one of the positioning reference signal bandwidth, the duration of positioning opportunities, and the frequency of positioning opportunities.

[0190] Clause 44. The request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration includes the start time and duration for transmitting one or more positioning reference signals based on the second positioning reference signal configuration of the apparatus of Clause 42.

[0191] Article 45. A request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration includes a positioning reference configuration identifier associated with one or more positioning reference signal parameters, as per the device of Article 42.

[0192] Clause 46. The second positioning reference signal configuration is the apparatus of Clause 42, including the desired beam direction.

[0193] Clause 47. An apparatus for determining the location of a user device, comprising: means for receiving first support data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration; means for transmitting a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; means for receiving second support data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is at least partially based on the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; means for obtaining measured values ​​from one or more positioning reference signals at least partially based on the second support data; and means for determining the location at least partially based on measured values ​​obtained from one or more positioning reference signals.

[0194] Article 48. An apparatus for providing support data associated with an on-demand positioning reference signal, comprising: means for sending first support data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration to a user device; means for receiving a request from the user device to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; means for generating second support data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is at least partially based on the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; and means for sending the second support data to the user device.

[0195] Article 49. An apparatus for transmitting on-demand positioning reference signals, comprising means for transmitting one or more positioning reference signals based on a first positioning reference signal configuration, means for receiving a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration, and means for transmitting one or more positioning reference signals based on a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is at least partially based on a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration.

[0196] Clause 50. A non-temporary processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause one or more processors to determine the location of a user device, the non-temporary processor-readable storage medium comprising: a code for receiving first support data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration; a code for transmitting a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; a code for receiving second support data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration comprises a code at least partially based on the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; a code for obtaining measured values ​​from one or more positioning reference signals at least partially based on the second support data; and a code for determining the location at least partially based on the measured values ​​obtained from one or more positioning reference signals.

[0197] Clause 51. A non-temporary processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause one or more processors to provide support data associated with on-demand positioning reference signals, the non-temporary processor-readable storage medium comprising: a code for sending first support data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration to a user device; a code for receiving a request from the user device to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; a code for generating second support data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is at least partially based on the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; and a code for sending the second support data to the user device.

[0198] Clause 52. A non-temporary processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause one or more processors to transmit on-demand positioning reference signals, the non-temporary processor-readable storage medium comprising: a code for transmitting one or more positioning reference signals based on a first positioning reference signal configuration; a code for receiving a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; and a code for transmitting one or more positioning reference signals based on a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is at least partially based on a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0199] 100 Communication systems, systems 105 UE 106 UE 110a NR node B (gNB), gNB (g node B), gNB 110b NR node B (gNB), gNB (g node B), gNB 110 gNB 111 RU 112 DU 113 CU 114 Next-generation e-node B (ng-eNB), ng-eNB (e-node B), ng-eNB 115 Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 117 Session Management Function (SMF) 120 Location Management Function (LMF) 125 Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 130 External Clients 135 Next Generation (NG) RAN (NG-RAN) 140 5G Core Network (5GC), 5G Core 150 servers 185 Constellations 190 Satellite Vehicles (SV) 191 Satellite Vehicle (SV) 192 Satellite Vehicle (SV) 193 Satellite Vehicle (SV) 200 UE 210 processors 211 memory 212 Software (SW) 213 Sensors 214 Transceiver Interface 215 Transceiver 216 User Interface 217 Satellite Positioning System (SPS) receiver 218 Cameras 219 Location Devices (PD) 220 bus 230 General-Purpose / Application Processors, Processors 231 Digital signal processor (DSP), processor 232 Modem Processors 233 Video Processors 234 sensor processor, processor 240 Wire Restaurant Seaba 242 Wireless Transmitter 244 Wireless Receiver 246 Antenna 248 Wireless Signals 250 Wired Transceiver 252 Wired Transmitter 254 Wired Receiver 262 SPS antenna 300 transmit / receive points, TRP 310 Processor 311 memory 312 Software (SW) 315 Transceiver 320 bus 340 Wire Restaurant Seaba 342 Wireless Transmitter 344 Wireless Receiver 346 Antenna 348 Wireless Signals 350 Wired Transceiver 352 Wired Transmitter 354 Wired Receiver 360 SPS signal 362 SPS antenna 400 servers 410 Processor 411 memory 412 Software (SW) 415 Transceiver 420 bus 440 Wire Restaurant Seaba 442 Wireless Transmitter 444 Wireless Receiver 446 Antenna 450 Wired Transceiver 452 Wired Transmitter 454 Wired Receiver 502 First PRS Resource Set 504 Second PRS Resource Set 1002 DL-PRS configuration identifier 1004 Parameter values 1006 DL-PRS Parameter Set

Claims

1. A method for determining the location of user equipment, The steps include sending a request for support data, which includes a prioritized list of desired downlink positioning reference signal configurations, The steps include receiving support data that includes one or more downlink positioning reference signal configurations, based at least partially on a prioritized list of the desired downlink positioning reference signal configurations, A step of obtaining a measured value from one or more positioning reference signals based at least partially on the aforementioned support data, A method comprising the step of determining the location based at least in part on the measured value obtained from the one or more positioning reference signals.

2. The process further includes the step of receiving a plurality of downlink positioning reference signal configurations, wherein the preferred list of desired downlink positioning reference signal configurations includes one or more of the plurality of downlink positioning reference signal configurations. The method according to claim 1.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising the step of receiving instructions for one or more positioning reference signal configuration parameters that can be modified on demand.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of downlink positioning reference signal configurations are received via one or more positioning system information blocks transmitted by a base station.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the support data is received from the location management function via a Long-Term Evolution Positioning Protocol message.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of transmitting the request for the support data includes the step of providing a preferred list of identifiers associated with the desired downlink positioning reference signal configuration.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the step of receiving the support data, which includes the one or more downlink positioning reference signal configurations, includes the step of receiving one or more identifiers in a prioritized list of identifiers.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the request for the support data, which includes the prioritized list of desired downlink positioning reference signal configurations, is included in a mobile-origin location request message.

9. Means for sending a request for support data including a prioritized list of desired downlink positioning reference signal configurations, A means for receiving support data comprising one or more downlink positioning reference signal configurations, based at least partially on the prioritized list of desired downlink positioning reference signal configurations, Means for acquiring measured values ​​from one or more positioning reference signals, based at least partially on the aforementioned support data, Means for determining location based at least in part on the measured values ​​obtained from the one or more positioning reference signals, User equipment, including...

10. The user device according to claim 9, configured to perform the method described in any one of claims 1 to 8.

11. A non-temporary processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause one or more processors to determine the location of user equipment according to the method of any one of claims 1 to 8.

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